Oklahoma and Texas in the SEC Makes No Sense

The other day while looking at college football news I saw the big story that Texas and Oklahoma have inquired, or were at least thinking about, joining the SEC. At first I thought it was just a rumor. I took zero stock in the report. I did not think that the two most notable Big 12 teams would bolt to go play in the SEC. It didn't make sense at the time.

Why would these teams make the move? Texas hasn't been great as of late. They are a lot like Michigan right now. They get overhyped, fall on their face when they shouldn't and close out seasons at 7-5 or 8-4. It is eerie how similar Texas and Michigan have been the past ten to fifteen seasons. Oklahoma basically runs the Big 12. Ever since Lincoln Riley took over they seem to win it every season. They have multiple Heisman winning QB's. They have been to the playoff. They go out and torch other Big 12 teams. They are the university of Ohio State or Alabama of the Big 12. So I just thought it was odd that they would want to join the SEC. It doesn't make sense.

It still doesn't make sense to me a few days later. Apparently talks are ramping up on both teams leaving. I saw that neither will resign with TV companies that cover the Big 12 in 2025 when the contract is up. I saw that a few current SEC teams, and former Big 12 schools, Missouri and Texas A&M have come out and said they do not want Texas and Oklahoma to join. I wonder what other SEC teams think. I'm sure Alabama could care less. As long as Nick Saban is coaching they will be the pick to win the SEC every year. Georgia looks to be really good this upcoming season, and their recruiting is setting them up to always be good. Auburn is up and down, but they are entrenched as an SEC school. Florida is big time in the SEC. Even schools like Kentucky and South Carolina are way, way more SEC than Texas and Oklahoma could ever dream of being.

I also do not understand the want for Texas, and even more so, Oklahoma to leave the comfort of the Big 12. If they were to leave the Big 12 in three years both of their schedules get immediately tougher. There is no Kansas in the SEC. SEC teams usually play one really tough out of conference opponent. SEC teams do get that one cupcake team late in the season, but the Big 12 fills their out of conference schedule with cupcakes. For example, Oklahoma's three non conference games this year are Tulane, Western Carolina and Nebraska. Those are all very easy wins for them. Texas plays Louisiana Lafayette, Arkansas and Rice. Again, all very winnable games. Alabama on the other hand has a game with Miami. While they are not as good as they used to be, it is still Miami. They will still be a tough opponent in the ACC. They are better than all of the other teams I just mentioned. Auburn plays Penn State in week three. Ole Miss plays Louisville. In week one Georgia is facing Clemson. Mississippi State faces Memphis, who has been very solid the past few years, in week three. And Vanderbilt has Stanford. Those games are all much more difficult than anyone Texas and Oklahoma face in their first three weeks. Then we have the conference schedule. Texas and Oklahoma get to play West Virginia and Texas Tech and Baylor. They also face Kansas State and Kansas. And there is TCU. Iowa State is the only real threat to Oklahoma, but this is a team that just got good two years ago. The SEC has all those teams I mentioned above, plus teams like LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri to name a few.

If I were Texas and Oklahoma I would think about this a bit more before deciding. I like that they want tougher competition, but they can schedule that out of conference. They can schedule two or three tough opponents, then run the gamut in the Big 12 and have a much better shot at the playoff. And if they are both to leave, it will not be too long until we go to three or four super conferences. The Big 12 would be done without these two schools. The rest of the conference would look elsewhere. The Big 10 could absorb some of the schools, but where would the other southern schools go? Would they also join the SEC? Would the ACC survive? How does this affect the Pac 12? There would be a TON of questions to answer if this comes to fruition. But right now, the way I see it, Texas and Oklahoma are better off staying put and wiping the floor with their current conference in Oklahoma's case. We will have to see what happens. But a change from these two schools would cause a seismic shift in the college football landscape.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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A Few Thoughts on the 2019 College Football Semi-Final Games

I want to take today to talk about the two college football playoff semifinal games. Both were the finals I expected, I picked each winning team, but I did not expect the games to play out as they did. I was actually kind of stunned by each outcome, and how we got there. Let’s break it down.

First off, I expected LSU to win, even picking them to win by double digits, but I didn't expect it to be a 63-28 beat down. I mean, it was 49-14 at halftime. Joe Burrow went for 350 plus passing yards and 7 TD's in the half. That is insane. I can't even put those numbers up in a video game, or if I do, it is time for the backups to come in. This game was close for one drive. LSU scored very early on a muffed punt. Then Oklahoma got the ball and immediately answered. After that, it was over. LSU went on to score, I think, 28 unanswered points, made it look super easy, and this game was done before halftime. I have never seen a beat down like this between two, supposedly, even matched teams. I thought Oklahoma would be able to stay in it for a half, maybe even until the third quarter. Well, I was wrong.

I am a big time Jalen Hurts guy. I love the way he transformed himself, I love his leadership, I love how humble he is and he is one of the few transfers who benefited from leaving Alabama. But, LSU was so far ahead that they turned him into only a passer, and that is how you beat Oklahoma. When Hurts cannot be fully utilized as the threatening dual threat QB he is, and has to become a pocket passer, it isn't the best formula to win. Hurts hung in there and did his best, but his defense let him down.

As for LSU, I mean is there any question they are the best team in college football anymore? What they did on Saturday night was one of the most impressive things I have ever watched. They looked like they were playing 7 on 7. It looked liked a practice for them. Their star running back, Edwards-Helaire, was able to rest his hamstring for the title game because they were so far ahead. Their receivers, especially the Biletnikoff winner, whose name I cannot remember, were always open, always scoring and making the game look so easy. And Burrow, he was outstanding. For a kid I knew very little about coming into the year, this kid is a star. He should be the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft. He looked poised and calm in the pocket. When he had to improvise, he always seemed to find an open guy for a big gain. And again, 7 passing TD's in a half! Wow, just wow. What a performance by this team. I didn't even mention the defense, but they did their job. Sure, Oklahoma had 28 points, but 21 of them were very hollow. I think 14 of them were against backups too. This was a dominant performance.

As for the other game, that gave us the drama and complaints and intrigue I think we all wanted from the semifinal. Look, I picked Clemson to win, thinking they would expose the University of Ohio State's defense. They did win, but it was ugly and riddled with questionable calls. Also, I will never, for the life of me, understand why Clemson decided to make Trevor Lawrence a runner in this game, but it did work. He went for 100 plus rush yards and a TD. He also threw for 250 plus yards and a few scores. He is every bit as good as the hype suggests, it was just weird that it took an odd targeting call to get him going. The University of Ohio State should have won the game, jumping out to a quick 16-0 lead, but there was some poor officiating. I am in no way saying this is why they lost, not at all, but still, there was some bad calls. I do need to say that as much as it pains me. Still, they were up 16-0 early in the second quarter, and they blew it. They had three opportunities inside the red zone in the first half, and they had to settle for field goals. They had too many dropped passes. They couldn't stop Lawrence after the first quarter. The stud defensive end they have was neutralized by Clemson's run game, and quick pass game. The running back, Dobbins got hurt, and they couldn't run much with him out. So no Buckeye fans it wasn't the refs, your team blew it. Believe me, I know. I have seen Michigan blow too many games, tried to blame it on refs and then realized that it was their fault, and no one else's. That fact that their coach is out here blaming it on refs is just sour grapes. Get over it. You have the majority of this juggernaut coming back, and hopefully your receiver and QB don't have a horrific miscommunication in the end zone next season to end your season. The university of Ohio State had a 16 point lead and blew it.

As for Clemson, again, I don't understand their plan heading into this game, but it eventually worked. They ran, ran and ran some more until it worked. They played the check down pass game, until they decided to throw screens against an attacking defense, which of course worked. Their defense constantly blitzed, even though they were giving up chunks of yards, until it worked. They played this game like they were playing an ACC opponent, and you know what, it worked just like it had for the previous 28 games. Clemson hasn't lost in nearly 2 years. Trevor Lawrence hasn't lost since taking over as the starter, and in fact, this game was the first time he had taken snaps trialing in a game since high school. I guess I shouldn't be questioning what they do because it obviously continues to work for them. I was glad that this game was close to the end though. For someone with zero rooting interest in this game, it kept my attention. I watched the whole thing with bated breath. I was taken aback by the interception to end the game. I was impressed by both teams final offensive drives, until the interception. It was a very, very good game. The play was a little sloppy, but I have come to expect that from college football. That doesn't make the game any less exciting.

So, while we get the title game that I, and many others, predicted, it was an odd way to get there. I am sticking with LSU to win, but who knows. Clemson is the dynasty. Will LSU be the team to dethrone them? We will have to wait until January 13th to find out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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A Few Thoughts on the Winners, and Whiners, of the College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff is set. From 1 to 4 the teams are Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama.

Now, before I get into my predictions, let us first talk about Alabama getting in over the University of Ohio State and USC. I'll touch on USC first. USC made a late season push. They proved that they are the best team in the Pac 12 by winning the title game, and closing the season pretty strong. Sam Darnold looks the part that many hoped he would when the season started, they have a tremendous run game and their defense has been pretty solid. But, early season losses to Washington State, and a blowout loss to Notre Dame doomed them. They also struggled with Texas earlier this year, in California. But, they smashed Stanford early on, and then beat them again in the Pac 12 title game. They also beat UCLA, albeit in a close game, and smashed a bunch of teams people thought would give them a game. But, in the end, the damage early in the year was too much to overcome. They had a great season, and they play in a pretty good bowl game, but they just couldn't sneak into the playoff.

As for the University of Ohio State debate. Before I get into this, I'm not going to trash them because I'm a Michigan fan. I'm going to trash them because of their ignorance and complaining. Last season the University of Ohio State got into the playoff, even though they lost at Penn State on a blocked field goal return for a TD. They did not play in the Big Ten title game, but they claimed that a conference championship game didn't matter. They finished the year 11-1. and they felt they had a better resume than Penn State, who beat them and won the conference title game. I HATE Penn State as well, so I am not making excuses for them. But, when the University of Ohio State plays in a conference title game this year, win it, but don't make the playoff and complain, you should see why I have a problem with their whining. They are hypocrites. They only want stuff good to happen for them when it benefits them. Look, they got crushed, at home, early in the season against Oklahoma, a playoff team. Oklahoma went to Columbus and trashed them. Then, later on in the year they went to Iowa and lost by 31 points. They gave up 55 points to that "dynamic" Iowa offense. This is exactly what happened to Penn State last year. They lost an early season game at Pitt, and then got smashed the very next week at Michigan. The committee has stated that big losses, no matter when they occur, matter in the end. I've read all the social media heat. People are pissed that a conference champ from a power 5 conference didn't get in. But, the same exact thing happened last year, and no one batted an eye when the University of Ohio State got in over Penn State. So, for all you University of Ohio State fans, it doesn't feel good to be on the opposite end of some bull shit, does it? But, do not bitch and moan, you guys got in last year on the same merit that Alabama got in on this year.

Alabama getting in over Ohio State and USC, I'd have no problem with it, but Nick Saban went on ESPN Saturday night and cried and whined his way into the playoff. Based on their last 2 games, they are not a playoff team. Now, give me a neutral site, and have Alabama play either school, I'd probably pick Alabama. But, it is not as clear cut as it was earlier in the season. Also, Alabama's best win is probably over LSU, but they are not the LSU of old. I know that the FSU game on the opening weekend was a big time matchup at the time, but it has looked worse and worse every week. And Saban's complaints about injuries and the like, shut up with that nonsense. Every team suffers injuries. Michigan played 3 different QB's this year. Auburn's star running back is currently hurt. Wisconsin lost their best linebacker before the year started. The University of Ohio State had to go to a backup QB in the Michigan game. Stanford dealt with Bryce Love injuries all year. Miami lost their best running back early in the season. FSU lost their star QB in the first game. Every team has to deal with injuries. Injuries are not why Auburn beat Alabama. Auburn was a much better coached and more physical team that day. That is why they beat you.

But, Alabama whined your way into a first round matchup with the clear cut number one team in the nation. Which, is my segue into my playoff predictions. So, the 1-4 matchup is Clemson-Alabama. This is part three of the series. The first 2 matchups have been great, and I think the same thing will happen in this game. Clemson is the best overall team in the country. Their defense is ferocious. They can attack you from so many different angles. Brent Venables may be the best defensive coordinator in the country. Their offense may not be as good as last year, but losing a Deshaun Watson type player would do that to any team. That being said, Kelly Bryant is legit. Clemson has a great running game. They have solid receivers. They have a pretty decent offensive line. They are just an overall solid team. Alabama has a great defense that will get some of those injured players Saban was whining about on ESPN the other night. They have a great defensive line, pretty good linebackers and a solid secondary. Where Alabama gets tripped up is their offense. They are predictable, which is fine when you face FSU or Mercer or Tennessee. But, Clemson will shut them down. Alabama thrives on their run game, but Clemson will stop that and force them to pass. And, as long as Clemson can limit Calvin Ridley, they should win the game. Jalen Hurts has proven he cannot beat you through the air. Clemson is a better team, and they should win by at least a touchdown. I think getting the line backers back at Alabama will make this game closer than it should be, but I have Clemson in a relatively low scoring game.

The other match-up of Oklahoma and Georgia, the 2-3 game, these  teams couldn't be more different. Oklahoma is very mediocre on defense, but they have the best offense, by far, in all of college football. They want to get in a track meet. They can run the ball and they can sure as hell throw the ball. Baker Mayfield, much credit to RD here, is going to win the Heisman, and that dude can sling the ball. I may not like him as a person, he is way too arrogant, but that dude is a great college football player. Oklahoma wants the ball and they want to score and score and score as much as possible. Georgia is an old fashioned team. They want to run the ball, kill clock and throw 5 yard outs to their tight ends. They are not an explosive offensive team, but they have the best backfield in all of college football. Sony Michel and Nick Chubb are amazing. They also have some stud freshman that steps in from time to time. Jake Fromm is not an all world QB yet, but he can manage a game. Georgia is stout on defense. They have shut down every team, with the first Auburn game being the lone exception. They are legit. This game is going to go one of two ways. Either Oklahoma gets the track meet they want and blows Georgia away late, or Georgia is able to stop one aspect of the Oklahoma offense and win an ugly, low scoring slugfest. I think it will be the track meet. I think Oklahoma's offense is way too good to stop. And say Georgia does somehow stop the passing offense, Oklahoma can run the ball extremely effectively as well. I say Oklahoma wins this game with a late 4th quarter run by about 2 scores.

That gives us 1 versus 2 in the title game. I am going to take Clemson to repeat. They will stop Oklahoma. Oklahoma will play in this game like they did the second half of the Iowa State game. Clemson is so fast, disciplined and awesome on defense. Kelly Bryant will also catapult himself as the 2018 Heisman front runner in this game because Oklahoma will not be able to stop him. I have Clemson winning this game fairly comfortably. They are the better, more seasoned team and their coaching staff has been here before. It is going to be a repeat and get used to Clemson being in the playoff. Maybe they are the new Alabama.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. No talk of UCF Ty? He is not interested in seeing another overrated feel good college football story get beat by 40 points by a real team. The truth hurts.

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The SeedSing 2017 College Football Preview

Before I get into my 2017 NCAA football preview, please try and do anything and everything you can to help out the people in Houston. What is going on there right now is horrifying and terrible and the people of that city need our help. You can donate at many websites, text 90999 and write HARVEY or, if you are in the area and safe, try and help others. I hope this all ends soon because this is catastrophic. No one deserves what is happening in Houston now. Go out and do whatever you can to help.

Okay, now lets get to my preview.

My 2017 NCAA football preview is going to be like my other ones. I will break down the "power 5" schools, mention some non "power 5" schools, pick the playoff, the championship and the Heisman winner. I'll pick the winner of each conference too. Okay, here goes.

I'm going to start with the Big 12. The Big 12 is about the 2 Oklahoma schools. Oklahoma is going to be good. They still have Baker Mayfield, and they recruit with the best schools in the country, and they get some of the best players. However, they lost Dede Westbrook and Semajie Perine. Those departures will be enormous. Baker Mayfield is a legit Heisman contender, but he has an entire new crew of skill players. They also lost Bob Stoops to retirement. That was bizarre. I wrote about how weird his retirement was about 2 months ago, and I am still confused as to why he walked away this year. But, Oklahoma doesn't rebuild, they reload. They will still be very good. Oklahoma State is going to be absolutely lethal on offense. Mason Rudolph is going to put up incredible numbers. This year will be Oklahoma State's best chance to knock off Oklahoma. They have a stacked offense. Their defense is kind of suspect, but in the Big 12, defense is sometimes optional. I have seen some websites and other publications say that maybe TCU can compete, but that all depends on Kenny Hill. If he looks good, they could be a 10 win team. If he falters, they will be lucky to be .500. They also have a very shoddy defense, which used to be their calling card. Texas is welcoming Tom Hermann as their new head coach, and I think some people have a bit too much optimism. I'm a little more pessimistic. They have a lot of newer starters that need to learn an entire new offense. I don't doubt that Hermann can turn it around, I just think it may take 2 or 3 years to get his type player. Their defense is atrocious too. Baylor is about to get hammered, as they should, with NCAA sanctions. That school's football program is filled with scumbags. They deserve all the bad things that are coming their way. Kansas may win 4 games this year, which would be a massive improvement, but they are a basketball school. That much is obvious. Iowa State is very mediocre. Texas Tech will score a lot of points, but they will give up more. I think that the honeymoon with Kliff Kingsbury is over. He is firmly on the hot seat. Kansas State will play hard, but they just don't have the talent to be hyper competitive. West Virginia may surprise some teams, but they are the epitome of a 7-5 team. They always start out hot too, but flame out. Expect that this year too. I'm going to go ahead and give Oklahoma State the nod in the Big 12 this year. Oklahoma has too much to replace, and they play a few good teams outside of their conference schedule. They also, inexplicably, lost their head coach. This is Oklahoma State's best shot to win the Big 12.

Lets now move to the very overrated SEC. As long as Alabama is in this conference, and they keep getting the best recruits, I'm going to go with them. They are the preseason number one. I know that they lost some guys on offense and defense, but they always do. They always have some blue chippers ready to take over for some first round draft pick. They lost that monster D-lineman to the draft, they have D'Shawn Hand to replace him. They lost OJ Howard, but they have Steven Ridley and some 5 stars ready to step in at tight end. They also get Jalen Hurts back. That kid was great last year as a true freshman. He looked so poised and composed. He is going to make a tremendous leap. Look, I hate Alabama, but I cannot deny their greatness. LSU should be good, but this is the first full year under Ed Orgeron. I now they looked different at the end of last year when he took over for Les Miles, but teams now have an entire offseason to prepare for him. They do have Derius Guice, and he looked awesome in his playing time behind Leonard Fournette last year. He filled in great for him when he got hurt. LSU also has a very stout defense, as always. The question marks for them are all the same. How will their QB play? Can they utilize their receivers properly? Will they choke in big games? Time will tell. I think they will be better than last year, but I still think Alabama is better. Auburn is back to being an 8 or 9 win team. They run the ball exceptionally, but they have no passing game whatsoever. Their defense is fine, but just fine. Gus Malzahn may not be the great head coach that they thought they got a few years back at Auburn. Georgia has some great running backs, mainly Nick Chubb, but their QB situation is not ideal. They had a 5 star kid start last year, and he looked like a freshman more than a star. They signed some other 5 star kid this offseason, and they are in a battle still to see who is going to be the starter. I'd stick with the kid from last year, but the fact that he is in a battle is a bad sign. They do have a decent defense, and Kirby Smart will turn them into a top 15 overall defense soon. Georgia may be looking at another 8 win year, but look out for them in a year or 2. Ole Miss is a mess due to their creep of a former head coach. They are going to get crushed by the NCAA. I'm sick of all the Tennessee hype every year. I do not believe one thing I hear from that team during the offseason anymore. Their coach should have been let go last year. Florida has a great defense, but that offense leaves a ton to be desired. They did get Malik Zaire to transfer there, and he could help them a lot, but he hasn't had a ton of time on campus. Their defense will keep them in every game, but they need that offense to get up to speed. Arkansas will be highly pumped up during the offseason, blow some games and finish 7-5 or 6-6 again. That is the Bret Biliema way. Texas A&M is wildly inconsistent, and they just lost Myles Garrett. They will most likely win 7 games again. Then there are the mid level to bottom feeders. The Missouri's, Vanderbilt's, Mississippi State's, South Carolina's and Kentucky's of the SEC. They may all be .500, but that is because they will schedule 3 cupcakes, and then beat up on each other. The upper tier SEC teams will hammer these teams. Obviously I have Alabama, no matter who they play in the SEC title game, to win the SEC.

The Pac 12 is down. The Pac 12 may be worse than the ACC now. Sure, Washington, USC and Stanford are highly rated. Hell, I have seen some people pick USC to win it all. But, I remember the last time USC had all this hype. They finished 7-6. This USC team will be better though. Sam Darnold is legit. He is very, very good. He is all around solid, even exceptional. They have some good skill guys too, and a pretty good defense. But, I'm always wary of a team that was going to fire their coach early during the last season, then playing really well down the stretch, then getting all the offseason accolades. Those teams never seem to live up to the hype. Washington was in the playoff, but we all saw what they looked liked against real competition. Alabama destroyed them. That game wasn't even close. They have an incredibly easy out of conference schedule, and they will win double digit wins, but when they have to face the big teams, they just can't match up. Their QB is back, and he will put numbers, but not against the top teams. I really like Stanford, and they completely dominated a much worse Rice team this past Saturday. They ran up and down the field on them and they stopped everything Rice tried to do. Stanford is going to be very good, but when will they have that one game when they blow it? It has happened for the past couple years. But, David Shaw might be one of the most underrated coaches in football. He is great. I do not know what happened to Oregon last year. They cleaned house, and I do like the hiring of Willie Taggert, but this team is playing a ton of new players. They might not be the hyper fast offense that we have all become accustomed to. And their defense might be worse than most of the defenses in the Big 12. Utah is solid, but they will only win 7 or 8 games. They have to replace a lot. They are kind of like the Kansas State of the Pac 12. They play hard, but they just aren't as talented as the upper echelon teams in their conference. UCLA is average. Josh Rosen is not the next great QB. They don't really have hyper athletic skilled players. Their defense is average. This is a 7 win team at best. Jim Mora Jr may be gone after this year. California is the Texas Tech of the Pac 12, but they give up more points. Arizona is learning that Rich Rod may not be the great coach he was when he was at West Virginia. This team has really faded in the last 2 years after climbing into the top 15 in Rich Rod's first year. Washington State might surprise some people. They have a tremendous offense, and their defense, if they need to, can make plays. Mike Leach is an odd dude, but he is an offensive mastermind. Washington State could win double digit game this year. And if they don't, they will be in every game. Colorado played very well last year, making it to the Pac 12 title game, and I expect them to continue being a competitive team in the Pac 12. They are on the up swing, but they need to break in a new QB and other new skill players. Arizona State's time as a "perennial top 25 team" never really came, and they are just a run of the mill team that has some wild uniforms. They will continue to be a 6 or 7 win team. I also despise their coach. Oregon State has gotten better the past 2 years, but they are still a ways away from being at the top of the conference. USC will get all the talk, but I like Stanford to win the Pac 12 this year. They need to replace a guy like McCaffery, but that should benefit them, as they won't be so reliant on one player. They will be a full team, as opposed to one guy being the focal point. I also really like David Shaw. He is, by far, the best coach in the conference.

The ACC is going to be much better than it has been in a long time. Clemson will take a step back, but they are the defending national champs. They have to replace a ton of production, but they have some good players ready to step in. They will not win the national title again, let alone the ACC. But, they will compete. Florida State looks like the team to beat. They have so much talent coming back. Sure, the lost Dalvin Cook, but they have Deondre Francois back, and that kid is amazing. They also have some pretty great skill guys. FSU is also stacked on defense. On paper, this team looks incredible. We will find out a lot about them this Saturday night when they open the season against Alabama. That is going to be an epic game. At least it should be. Miami is another team I like in the ACC. Mark Richt is a good head coach, and he is turning that program back to being relevant. They won't be the Miami from the early 2000's, but they are going to be very good this year. I could definitely see them win double digit games this year, and be a force in the ACC. Virginia Tech is another team on the up swing. They have a very good defense, and I know they lost their QB, but they will be able to plug and play some new kid, as long as he can manage a game. This team wins by stopping the other guys and ball control. And they have the talent to do that this year. Louisville returns Heisman winner Lamar Jackson, so you cannot count them out. Jackson kind of fell off at the end of last year, but he still won the Heisman as a 19 year old. He is a very good QB. They don't have a ton of talent on defense, but they can still manage to get stops. This team is all about Lamar Jackson, and in college football, that is just fine. Georgia Tech will be a headache, they run that triple option, and I could see them winning a few games they shouldn't. Pitt is atrocious on defense, and they lost their excellent running back, James Connor, to the NFL. They might take a step back this year. Duke is fun to watch at times, but they don't have the guys to make any real noise. Same thing with UNC. They play a fun style of offense, but they just can't matchup with the top 25 teams. NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College and Syracuse are also rans. NC State may win a game they shouldn't here and there, but they will not matter in the end. Boston College will have a very stout defense, but they will lose so many games with scores like 7-0, 10-7 or 6-3. They just can't score. FSU is the clear favorite to win the ACC, and I am not going against the pack on this one. FSU will win the ACC.

The last of the "power 5" conferences is the Big 10. I am a Michigan fan. Duh. I'm very curious/excited/nervous to see what this team will look like in 5 days. A BUNCH of people are expecting them to take a major step back. They have to replace 17 starters. That is a lot. But, all the kids there now are Harbaugh's recruits. These are the type of players he wants at Michigan. I want to see how they perform. I want to see if Harbaugh is the great coach that he has been ordained to be. Most publications pick them to finish fourth overall in the Big 10 and third in their division. I have seen their win totals range from 8-11. I would be very disappointed if they only won 8 games and finished third in their division. I think they will be better than most people are saying. I think they can win double digit games. I love that they open with Florida and that they have a tough conference schedule. But, they get Ohio State at home this year and Florida has suspended, the last I checked, 7 players for this opener. I think Michigan will be better than 8 wins. I think they should win at least 10 games. Most of the hype in the Big 10 is being placed on the University of Ohio State and Penn State, and rightfully so. Both these teams appear to be loaded. Both these teams ended the regular season strong. But, both lost their bowl games. I have much more faith in the University of Ohio State living up to the expectations than Penn State because they always have high expectations. The University of Ohio State will be fine, if they beat Oklahoma at the beginning of the year. Penn State hasn't been in the spotlight, at least not for something good, and neither has James Franklin, in a very long time. The way they ended last year seemed very, very fluky to me. Like I said, they have a very talented team, but this is a team that got scored on a ton against a very mediocre Pitt team last year. This is a team that was floating in obscurity until the University of Ohio State played their worst game all year. This was a team that got Wisconsin on their worst defensive performance of the year in the Big 10 title last year. They got a lot of breaks last year. Let's see how they do with the bulls eye on them now. Wisconsin will be very good once again. They will run the ball a ton, control the clock and let their stacked defense get stops for them when they need to. They will most definitely be a major factor in the Big 10 all year long. After those teams, it gets very murky. Who knows how good Minnesota will be with PJ Fleck as the head guy. They could be very good, they have a good run game, but how will their passing offense look and how will that defense play? Don't forget, they let Rutgers stay in, and almost win, the game they played last year. Northwestern is on a lot of "sleepers" lists, but aren't they every year? They have a good run game, but I do not buy Clayton Thorson as a legit QB threat. They also have a very mediocre defense. Pat Fitzgerald might be the most overrated coach in all of college sports. But, people seem to think this Northwestern team can make noise. I am not one of those people. Maryland has a good defense, but their offense is abysmal. They have zero play makers and they will struggle with the top teams in the Big 10. Indiana is going through a coaching change, and they need to break in a new QB. But, they always have a very good run game, and they need one because that defense cannot stop anyone ever. Nebraska is okay, but I cannot figure out what to make of this team and Mike Riley. Does he want to run the ball like he did at Oregon State, or is he going to use the spread game? Who is going to be his QB? Who is going to be their bell cow running back? How is their defense going to look? This team is a mystery. Iowa will always be one of the tougher teams to play at home. But, they have no real QB or receiver threat. They do have some good running backs, but with teams loading the box, that won't matter. Their defense will be good though because it always is. This team has 7 wins written all over them. Michigan State will not be as bad as they were last year, but they won't be much better. They do not have that crushing defense from a few years back and they have no real identity on offense. Mark Dantonio may be coaching for his job this year. If they get 7 wins, which I think they can, he should be fine, but if they slip to 5 or 4 wins, he may be looking elsewhere for work next season. Then we have Purdue, Illinois and Rutgers. This is the bottom of the barrel in the Big 10. Rutgers will be lucky to win 2 games. Purdue is going through yet another coaching change. And poor Lovie Smith, Illinois is bad. As much as I loathe and am disgusted by this team, god damn University of Ohio State will probably win the conference. JT Barrett is a really good college QB and their defense is stout. Penn State may make it tough on them, so will Wisconsin, and Michigan, while young, should be in the race all season long.

As far as non "power 5" teams, South Florida and Boise State are about the only ones worth talking about. Notre Dame also bears mentioning, but they need to fire Brian Kelly right away, especially if that team comes out the way they did last year. They only won 4 games last year. That is unacceptable. Boise State bears a mention because they have earned it. They are always playing tough teams, beating them sometimes, and then running away with their conference. And South Florida is the Western Michigan of this year. They may go undefeated, but playing in such a poor conference and playing a weak out of conference schedule will leave them outside the top 10 all year. They are a very, very good football team though. But, no one outside of the "power 5" will make the playoff.

Which leads me to the playoff. My four teams, in order are FSU, the University of Ohio State, Alabama and USC. I think FSU will beat Alabama this weekend, take over the one spot and never relinquish it. The University of Ohio State will get in by beating Oklahoma early in the season and winning every game from there on out. I already have 2 undefeated teams in my playoff. Alabama will lose to FSU then crush everyone else on their way to another SEC title on a revenge style run. And even though I'm pessimistic about teams getting major accolades after starting out a season very bad, then finishing hot, and even though I picked Stanford to win the Pac 12, I think USC will get the nod with only one loss, where I think Stanford could have 2 losses, but still be in, and win, the Pac 12 title game. That would match up FSU and USC and Alabama and the University of Ohio State. I have FSU in a walk over USC and I have Alabama going to their second straight title game in a very close game over the University of Ohio State. And in the rematch I have FSU coming out on top once again. FSU is so very, very talented, and I think they will be your 2017-18 NCAA football champs. As far as the Heisman goes, I have Deondre Francois winning it. He will have his signature game this Saturday, and he will continue to play better and better every week of the year and run away with the Heisman.

I'll do a mid season check up, but this is what I see heading into the real opening week of college football. I cannot wait.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I am no where near the college football expert that Ty is, but I am still going to give my thoughts. The SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12 are very bad conferences with one or two very good teams. That means Alabama, USC, and Oklahoma will easily get into the playoff because they will bowl through their conferences and have one loss each at the very most. The fourth team should come from the Big 10, the best conference in college football, but eventual champ Wisconsin will have two or more losses. Urban Meyer will "suffer" through a 10 win season, lose to Michigan, and then retire due to "health concerns". Urban wants to run far away from Michigan in 2018 when they become an Alabama type power. That leaves the fourth playoff spot to a two loss FSU team (Alabama and a random conference game will be losses). #4 FSU will play #1 Alabama in the first round, the real national championship game. FSU will get revenge, then they will crush USC in the National Championship.

Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma will win the Heisman. Great name, premier program, and he will put up sick numbers in a the defense desert of the Big 12.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is a big man to not talk up his favorite team like he should. The Head Editor is not a big man, he will talk up the Wolverines for Ty.

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No Brent Musberger, Forgetting About Domestic Abuse is not OK

Please Brent, just shut up already.

As I said yesterday, today, I want to comment on the whole Brent Musberger situation from Monday night. I was watching the Sugar Bowl, in which Oklahoma blew out Auburn, and I actually turned the game off before I had heard Musberger's much maligned comments on Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon, who is on film punching his then girlfriend in the face.

Again, we have a situation where a football player is on tape abusing a female. This has to stop. We cannot allow this to continue to happen. It is disturbing, disgusting, horrifying and illegal. No one should ever, ever put hands on a female, child or anyone weaker than them. This is so terrible, and there needs to be punishments for people that do this type of thing. My mother worked in a field where she helped battered women and children, and those people had horrific lives. They were always scared. Whenever I would come around, I'm a bigger guy, I could feel their fear in the air. I would never put my hands on anyone, I'm a pacifist, but these women and children only knew of men that constantly hit them. That is no way to live your life. Living in fear is a terrible way to live.

With his terrible actions did Oklahoma punish Mixon? Not that I can tell. In fact, he started at running back in the Sugar Bowl, and was their best player on the field. But, at what point does illegal activity beat out physical ability? Yes, Mixon is a good football player, but he hit a female. He should not have been playing in that game. But, Bob Stoops, who is a doofus, played him anyway after he deemed Mixon's "apology" enough punishment. Mixon seemed genuine in his "apology", but that does not take away the fact that he hit his girlfriend in the face. He should not be allowed to play football after that.

Ray Rice is done in the NFL, as he should be, but others do not face the same type of punishment. Adrian Peterson, after hitting his 4 year old with a switch, missed one season, but came back and was deemed a "special" player for being able to overcome "adversity". Richie Incognito bullied a player into retiring early, but he is now a pro bowl player after his short suspension. Hope Solo repeatedly beat up a family member, who then came out and said they were afraid of her anytime they saw her, but she is still the goalie on the US National soccer team. If Adrian Peterson, Richie Incognito, Hope Solo or Joe Mixon were you or me, and we did these same things, we would be put in jail and treated as pariahs. But since they are athletic, they get fourth, fifth and sixth chances. It is embarrassing and disturbing.

This all leads me to what Musberger said during the game the other night. During the broadcast, remember, I turned the game off because it was not competitive, Musberger said, this is via Yahoo Sports, "He's just one of the best, and lets just hope, given a second chance by Bob Stoops and Oklahoma, let's hope this young man makes the most of his chance and goes on to have a career in the National Football League". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Instead of addressing what he did, which a lot of other sports outlets had been doing leading up to the game, Musberger took his time to praise Joe Mixon. The only mention of Mixon hitting this female from Musberger was, "given a second chance". What a crock.

This is part of the problem. Musberger only looks at the athletic ability, not the horrific thing that he did. This is terrible. Musberger had the perfect platform to call out this horrific abuse and say that Oklahoma should have held this kid more accountable, I mean, players get kicked off teams for getting high, but they can still play when they hit females, if they are good, but instead, he heaped praise on Mixon. He wished him a long and prosperous career in the NFL. I do not know if this is the first time that Mixon laid hands on this lady, but as my mother, and a lot of other people that have helped abused people say, if they hit you once, they have, or have wanted, to hit you more. But, did Musberger talk about this? Of course not. He only pointed out that Mixon was a good football player, and that Oklahoma did the right thing, in giving him a "second chance".

Then, Musberger gave people even more ammo when he tried to defend himself and his comments while still calling the game. Instead of just saying that he was wrong, or doing a written apology, or something along the lines of trying to bury his awful remarks, he said, this time the quote is from the LA Times, "I happen to pull for people with second chances, OK? Let me make it absolutely clear that I hope he has a wonderful career and that he teaches people with that brutal, violent video. OK?". People shredded him once again via social media, as they should. He still wished this kid good fortune. I do not want this kid to have a bad life, but he beat a woman, and it was on film, and it was awful. I saw people saying that he wants this kid to succeed, but he never mentions the female that he hit. He never once says that he hopes she can one day live without fear.

Musberger has proven himself to be an idiot as far as sports announcers go. He never stops to think about what he is saying, he just blurts whatever comes to his feeble mind. This is embarrassing and disturbing. ESPN had a platform to address this, but they instead put Musberger on to do the game, and he praises a woman abuser. I just do not get it. This stinks and it is making it harder and harder for me to watch football, without turning on my Echo, muting the announcers, and listening to music while I watch the game.

These announcers, the older they get, the worse they become. Brent Musbereger proved his age with these remarks, and I hope someone somewhere punishes him accordingly. But I'm sure they won't, and when I turn on college football next year, Musberger will be right there, calling the games. What a shame.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

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Ty's Midseason College Football Redo

As I did yesterday with the NFL, today I'm going to look at college football at the mid way point. Also, much like the NFL, I got some things right, but more things wrong. That's how it goes when you are in the business of making predictions. No one is perfect, and I'm far from it myself. Anyway, let's get into what I got right and wrong, update my predictions and make some more changes.

First, let's look at the SEC, my least favorite conference. Alabama is the clear cut favorite. I think that everyone expected this. Alabama is clearly the best team in the SEC, and the nation. They have a historically great defense. They have scored 12 non offensive touchdowns, and they have only given up 12 touchdowns all year. They are elite. Their offense is just fine as well. They have a read option style QB, who is not a great passer, but an exceptional runner. He runs the read option to perfection, and, when he has an open man, he usually hits them in stride. Their offense, while not great, is just fine. Alabama is a cut above the rest in the SEC. As far as some teams that may present a "challenge", you have Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M. Some may say, you left out Tennessee, but Alabama recently beat them by 39 points. They also, just last week, beat A&M by 19 points, so they may not be much of a threat. Florida has a very good defense, but they were exposed against Tennessee in the second half of that game. Alabama is much, much better than Tennessee. Auburn may be the only team that can truly threaten Alabama, but their strength is running the ball, and Alabama's strength is stopping the run. Auburn has looked very good since Rhett Lashley took over the offense, but they will run into a buzz saw when they face Alabama's front seven. LSU could possibly pose a threat, the game is at night and in Baton Rouge, but they, much like Auburn, love to run the ball and Alabama is nearly impossible to run against. I will say, I was right about Tennessee. They are paper tigers. They should have been beaten a few times already, pulled some games out of nowhere, but have been brought back down to Earth the last two weeks. Anyway, at the midway point, Alabama is still the team to beat in the SEC.

Let's move to the Pac 12, which has been an absolute disaster thus far, minus one team. I was way, way off about Stanford. I thought that Christian McCaffrey would be dominant and lead this team to the playoff. I thought their defense would be great. I thought the lack of a decent QB would not matter. I was wrong on all three aspects. McCaffrey, while still putting up decent numbers, is literally the only threat they have, and he has missed parts of, or full games. He will not be making a return trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Their defense has been fine, but they have been on the field way, way too much. The lack of a good QB has crushed this team. Their passing game is no threat, so teams just load the box to stop the run, and it has worked thus far. UCLA has been incredibly underwhelming and Josh Rosen isn't even playing right now. USC, after getting crushed in their first 2 games, has looked better, but they are still 4-3. Utah is good, they have a great running game and an okay defense. They have a huge matchup this weekend, but I'll get to their opponent in a few. Oregon is atrocious, especially on defense. They cannot stop anyone and they can't settle on a QB. Oregon State is no good, Washington State is fine, but terrible at defense, Arizona State is average, Arizona is mediocre, which leaves us with one good team. That team is Washington. I was wrong about this team. I thought it was all talk, but they have lived up to the hype and then some. They are clearly the best team in the Pac 12. They have an elite offense and a very good defense. Jake Browning is putting up monster numbers, and if they get past Utah this weekend, they should have a clear path to the playoff. They are the Pac 12's only hope.

The Big 12, on the other hand, may not send a single team to the playoff. I was convinced that Oklahoma was going to have a breakthrough this year, but Bob Stoops reared his ugly head during week one. Houston trounced them, then 2 weeks later, in Norman, Ohio State throttled them. They have rebounded a bit, but they are no threat to be in the playoff. Texas started strong, but are limping to the finish line. Charlie Strong is all but done with his tenure there. TCU has been very up and down. Kansas State is in rebuild mode. Baylor is undefeated, but it is all for naught because none of this will matter because of the atrocities that they did off the field. They are going to get the death knell from the NCAA, hopefully. West Virginia, very surprisingly, has been the class of the Big 12. They have a very good offense, and in a league that thinks defense is optional, WVU actually plays really good defense. They have shut down both Texas Tech and TCU in consecutive weeks, and both those teams have great offenses. WVU is the team to beat in the Big 12, at this moment.

The ACC is still Clemson's to lose. Louisville has come out of nowhere, at least to me, but Clemson did beat them already. But, Louisville has been impressive thus far. Lamar Jackson is the front runner for the Heisman. He is putting up video game numbers, and no one, not even Clemson, truly stopped him. Florida State is average, Their QB is too young and inconsistent. Their defense is very mediocre. Dalvin Cook is very good, but he is their only threat. They have a big game against Clemson this weekend, and that game should show their true colors. Miami started out great, but they have fallen back to Earth the last three weeks. As far as some other challengers, there isn't any. NC State is average, and should have beaten Clemson, UNC has a great offense, but a terrible defense, Virginia Tech is fine, but not world beaters. This conference is Clemson's to lose. They are still undefeated, they play excellent defense and they still have Deshaun Watson, who is incredible. Until this team gets beat, I will stick with them. This weekend poses their last real threat, and if they get past FSU, they should roll to the playoff.

Now, for my conference, the Big 10. This is still a 2 team race. Ohio State, coming off their inexplicable loss to Penn State, is still a real playoff possibility. They have looked vulnerable the last 2 weeks, especially on offense, but they can go off at any time. JT Barrett is a very good QB, but he has gotten very little help from the rest of his teammates. The O line is shaky, the running game, outside of him, has been up and down, and they have no go to receiver. Their defense is awesome though. They can shut teams down. Ohio State has no room for error after last week, but if things break their way, they could sneak into the playoff. Michigan is playing incredible defense right now. They have shut down everyone that they have faced. It's hard to run on this team, and even harder to pass on them. Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown and Greg Mattison have a very, very good defense. The offense has been serviceable, but they are going to need to get better when they play better teams. Wilton Speight is still inconsistent with the long ball. Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh have not had their breakout games yet. Jake Butt has been fine, but not All American level yet. The running game has feasted on lesser opponents, but not so much on the better teams they've faced. I love their defense, but their offense needs to step it up. And, I do not care what their record is, they better be prepared for a very, very tough test this weekend at Michigan State. That team will bring their A game this weekend. As far as the rest of the Big 10, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and more recently, Penn State have looked good. Wisconsin has an incredible defense, but, much like Michigan, their offense leaves a lot to be desired. They also faced Michigan and Ohio State already, and both teams beat them. Nebraska may be the shakiest team in all of the top 10 rankings. They should have lost to Indiana and Oregon, but escaped with wins. They will probably get beat this weekend, when they face Wisconsin, but who knows, they could pull out another amazing win. Penn State has looked a lot better, but their offense is still a work in progress, and I do not trust them to be a real threat. Iowa has been underwhelming. Northwestern has looked good at times, but bad at times. Michigan State cannot seem to put it together. They can't pick a QB, and their defense is not as great as it usually is. Minnesota has 5 wins, but they have not looked impressive, and they tried everything to lose to Rutgers last week. The rest of the conference is below average. This conference is Michigan's to lose now. They have very high expectations for the first time in 10 years, so lets see how they react. This team has not been in this position for a long time, so let's see how these kids respond.

As far as other teams like Notre Dame, Houston, Western Michigan and Navy, only 2 of them have a say in being in a New Years 6 bowl. Notre Dame has been abysmal, and it all starts with their head coach. He has blamed everyone but himself, but he is the reason this team could miss out on a bowl game. They are 2-5 at the moment, so that means they need to finish the year 4-1, just to be considered for a bowl game. That will tough for this team. Houston was riding high with their opening season win at Oklahoma, but they have lost 2 of their last 3, and are out of the rankings. Western Michigan has looked great, owns 2 wins over Big 10 teams, and should rip through the MAC. They could find their way into an important bowl game by seasons end. And then there is Navy. They have played hard and played well pretty much all season long. They run that option to perfection, and they have looked really good all season. They were the first team to beat Houston I might add. I'm a Michigan fan through and through, but I have always liked Navy for some unexplained reason. It's good to see them play well.

As far as playoff teams go, right now for me, I have, from 4-1, Washington, Clemson, Michigan and Alabama. That is the exact order of the AP poll right now. I do not see that changing, unless one of these teams get upset, which could happen as soon as this weekend. So, that would pit Alabama-Washington and Michigan-Clemson in the semifinal games. Alabama will steam roll Washington and, as much as I would love to pick Michigan, Clemson has been there before and Michigan's offense is not nearly as good as Clemson's offense, so I'm going with the rematch. And, just like last season, I think Alabama will repeat. Clemson couldn't beat them last year, and Alabama's defense is way better than last year. I do not want Alabama to win, but they are leaps and bounds above everyone in college football. They are the Patriots of college football. I'm going to stick with Deshaun Watson has my Heisman winner though. He has already beaten Lamar Jackson head to head, and I think he will explode this weekend against FSU, which will solidify his place in New York.

There you have it, my mid season college football redux, redo, whatever you want to call it. College football has been so much better than the pros, so this piece was much easier and more fun to write than yesterday. Go watch some college games, they are way more fun, and quite frankly, better than the NFL, by a wide margin.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Test Ty's predictions by listening to the Mini X Millennial Man all about the upcoming NBA season. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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College Football Proved in Week One Why it is the Best

The first weekend of the college football season is officially in the books, and I have some quick thoughts about what we saw this past weekend.

First off, isn't it great to have football to watch again? Look, I like baseball, but nothing, not even basketball, compares to my love for football season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I spent my entire Saturday watching college football games.

My first main takeaway, RD was right and I was way wrong on Oklahoma. I assumed that they had the firepower and talent to overcome their head coach ineptness. Well, Houston made me look stupid, and made RD look right. When they got out to an 11 point lead, Oklahoma that is, I thought that they'd cruise from there. That was not the case. Houston took the first punch, then punched back way more than Oklahoma could handle. The 109 field miss return was the icing on the crap cake that has become Bob Stoops' calling card. Oklahoma could not recover, and they have a big hill to climb if they want in the playoff at the end of the year. They can still do it, but their chances are very, very slim. And how good did Houston and Greg Ward Jr look? They are truly a team worth watching, and they could definitely crash the playoff this year. Their last 2 wins, Florida State last year in the bowl game, and Oklahoma to open this season, are legit, and so is Houston.

The Thursday before, the games were mediocre. The only "marquee" team was Tennessee, and they struggled. Appalachian State is an okay team, and they will forever haunt me for what they did to the Wolverines all those years ago, but Tennessee was supposed to crush them, especially at home. Well, that did not happen. They needed a fourth quarter comeback, and had it not been for a miracle play from their running back, they would have fumbled away their win. Tennessee may not be as good as some thought they would be. But, it is only week one. 

Friday night had some good games, most notably Stanford-Kansas State. This game was closer than I thought, but we still got to see some great running by McCaffery. He made great cuts and zipped through holes and ran over tacklers. That kid is good. Michigan State looked a bit disjointed in their game against Furman on Friday night, but they won. It was sloppy, but it goes down as a W. 

Saturday was the real kickoff. I mentioned the Houston-Oklahoma game, but there were a lot of other things I saw in those early games. The Big Ten, save for Northwestern, looked pretty good. Ohio State and JT Barrett absolutely pummeled Bowling Green. Michigan crushed Hawaii. Iowa ran all over Miami of Ohio. The mid to lower level teams, like Maryland, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska pummeled their opponents. Nebraska also did a fantastic tribute to their fallen punter. It was moving. Yeah, Northwestern got beat, but don't sleep on Western Michigan. They are a good football team. And as far as Rutgers goes, they stink.

The biggest win for the Big Ten came in the afternoon games, when Wisconsin beat LSU. LSU was supposed to be the second, or first overall team in the SEC. They have a great, great running back that was going to run all over Wisconsin. Wisconsin was also coming off an okay season, but they were breaking in a new QB, and their running back was coming off injury. Well, Wisconsin completely controlled every facet of that game. They "held" Fournette to under 150 yards, and forced LSU's QB to try and win the game, which he did not, throwing one of the most errant interceptions I have ever seen. But, I don't put this loss solely on Brandon Harris, I put it on Les Miles. He has become so vanilla. His offense is so predictable, and when you can get them out of their comfort zone, you have a great chance at beating them. The game was ugly, but it was exactly what Wisconsin wanted it to be, and they won. LSU is still a ways away from competing big time in the SEC.

In some other afternoon games, the competition looked good. UNC-Georgia was a very good game. I think I may have been a little low on Georgia in fact. If Nick Chubb can stay healthy, Georgia can be a very good team. Maybe they become the team that challenges Alabama in the SEC. Washington looked good, absolutely crushing Rutgers, Rutgers is not good. But, Washington looked pretty good. UCLA laid an egg against Texas A&M. They had no flow and Josh Rosen looked like he may have taken a step back. A&M won, but I don't think they are great either. Trevor Knight does not appear to be an elite QB, but that is the best they have. And, as I said, they got the win. Other ranked teams, like TCU, Oregon and Oklahoma State crushed their opponents, but TCU and Oregon both gave up more points than they should have against their opponents.

The night games on Saturday, one was great, the other, not so much. Alabama let USC stay in the game for one quarter, then realized that they are Alabama, and dismantled USC. That was an old fashioned whooping. USC looked like a very overmatched JV team against a very young, inexperienced Alabama team. As much as I loathe Nick Saban and Alabama, that team is great, and he is a great college coach. The Clemson-Auburn game was sloppy, but entertaining. Clemson won, but it was a dogfight, and Auburn had a chance at the end. Deshaun Watson did more than enough, at least in my eyes, to prove why he is the best player in college football. The game was also played at Auburn, which is a tough spot for any team, and Clemson still pulled out the victory.

 Sunday featured one game, Notre Dame-Texas, and that game was incredible. I fervently despise both teams, but that game was great. There was little to no defense played, but it was fun. Brian Kelly lost that game for Notre Dame. And, before you call me out for being a Notre Dame hater they would have won if he kept Deshon Kizer in at QB. But, he kept taking him out, and Kizer was unstoppable. So were the 2 Texas QB's. The freshman was more of a threat to throw, but Swoopes, man did he look good running the ball. And their running game was awesome. The way it ended, in double overtime, was excellent. That was a great, great game.

Last night, FSU came back and beat Ole Miss. For as bad as FSU looked in the first half, they looked great in the second half. The freshman QB calmed down, and the o line started to open holes for Dalvin Cook. Ole Miss is overrated. They came out guns blazing, but after the second quarter, they looked gassed, and it seemed that FSU figured them out. This game went as it was supposed to go.

There were a lot of good games, and this was a very good opening week. I don't like that they called the Oklahoma-Houston, Wisconsin-LSU and FSU-Ole Miss games, "neutral" site games. Houston got to play in Houston, Wisconsin got to play in Green Bay and FSU got to play in Orlando. Those are all home games. That was an unfair advantage for Oklahoma, LSU and Ole Miss, but that is just a nit picky thing of mine. Other than that, this season is off to a very promising start. I cannot wait for this Saturday to come so I can watch some more football. The best sport is finally back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He can breathe easier this weekend because the Wolverines did not have their regular Rodriguez / Hoke bad loss in week one. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's 2016 College Preview and Predicitions

For my final preseason football preview, I'm going to talk about my favorite sport, college football. I love college football. There is nothing better than waking up on Saturday's in the fall and wasting an entire day watching college football. It is my drug of choice. For my preview I will talk about the 5 major conferences, the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12 and the Pac 12. I will also throw a few independents in there, and I may talk about a few other teams that might strike my fancy. Enough chit chat, let's get to it.

I will start with the SEC, because it is my least favorite conference of all. They get so much deserved, but also undeserved love from all major media outlets. Yeah, I realize the SEC is good because I have eyes of my own and I can see, I don't need Paul Finebaum's punk ass telling me how great it is every god damn week. That guy is a total waste of time. Anyway, it will be much of the same with the SEC this year. It's Alabama, most people's preseason number one pick and defending champs, then everyone else. I know Alabama has lost a lot of players, but Alabama doesn't rebuild, they reload. They will find a serviceable running back, just like they did when Mark Ingram, TJ Yeldon and now Derrick Henry left. They will also find a QB. I'm sure they have a couple of blue chips sitting on the bench, waiting their turn. They will also find some new wideouts. They have all this stuff, and then some, just waiting for their turn. And as far as their o line, they are the best in college football. The coaches, and officers of the law for that matter, don't care if the best lineman in college football steals guns, he won't miss one single second because all the charges were dropped. The rest of the o line is huge and dominant. Their defense is always good. Yeah, Kirby Smart left for Georgia, but that won't matter, they will field 11 blue chip recruits that will play just as good as their predecessors. Alabama is loaded from top to bottom.

A few teams that may challenge are LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn. I don't buy the hype on Tennessee. They were supposed to be great last year, and I believe they finished with 7 or 8 wins. Butch Jones is also a piece of human garbage. Georgia is good, but they have a lot of holes to fill, and they don't have the roster that Alabama has. I also feel like they let Mark Richt go too soon. I don't think Kirby Smart will consistently lead that team to double digit wins every year. Auburn is fine, but Gus Malzahn is not a top of the line head coach. He has had a ton of problems finding a good QB since Cam Newton left, and he doesn't take enough time working with the defense. Auburn lets much lesser opponents stay in games way too long. LSU has a great running back in Leonard Fournette, and they have a very good defense, but the college game may have passed Les Miles a few years ago, and who will play QB, and who will that QB throw to? This team may be a one trick pony, but that pony is incredible.

I know I didn't mention Florida or Ole Miss. Florida played way out of their heads last year, and they will regress, especially on offense. Ole Miss may have to forfeit a bunch of games for cheating, and they lost almost everyone of importance from that team the last two years. They are on the decline as well. Once again, it is Alabama as your SEC champs. They have the best roster, and their players can get away with anything, as long as they are good.

Next, I will go to the ACC. The ACC has only 2 really good teams, and then a few okay teams, but the bottom half is garbage. The two good teams are Clemson and Florida State. Clemson was in the title game last year, and they had a chance to win it. Deshaun Watson is back, and that team is loaded with players at the skill positions. They will be a very lethal offense. Which is good for their defense, because the defense is very middle of the road. Clemson could, and may well, go undefeated this year, and they could do it while averaging 45 to 50 points a game, but also giving up 25-30. Florida State is due to bounce back from a "down" year, where they only won 10 games. They have a great running back, very good wideouts and they will pick a good QB. They also have a stout defense, even though they lost Jalen Ramsey to the pros. Florida State is incredibly good on both sides of the ball, and they are so balanced, it's hard to pick a good defense to go with when playing them. FSU will be very good this year.

The teams that are lurking, but not there yet, are Miami and Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer left VT after a very stellar career, so it will take time to build that team back up, but they play tough no matter what. Miami hired Mark Richt, which is huge, and I think within a year or two, he will have them highly competitive again. These things just take time and he needs to recruit his type of guys, but he is an excellent coach, and he is back at his alma mater. The days of Duke and Georgia Tech and teams like them being hyper competitive are long gone. The ACC is a two team race, and I like Clemson.

The Pac 12 may be taking the biggest nose dive as a whole conference. This conference was once feared and adored, but they look to have fallen on hard times. Sure, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Washington are good, but when was the last time they were great? Oregon was not the same team last year. They played little to no defense, and they never really found a rhythm on offense. The super up tempo play just didn't have its desired effect last year. They will be decent, but they are going the route of transfer QB again, and even though I think Brady Hoke has a good defensive mind, he is not the answer they need to shore up that unit. UCLA has a great QB, but other than that, there is not a ton of weapons. Josh Rosen is also a sophomore, so he is either going to be better, or he will have that slump. He started off last year on fire, but as UCLA played better teams, people figured him and their offense out, and they weren't putting up huge numbers anymore. Their defense is very ho hum. Every year I hear that this is the year USC turns it all around, but they still haven't been that dominant team that they were in the early 21st century. The QB's aren't as good, neither are the backs. They have had some good receivers, but otherwise on offense, they are very average. The defense is fine, but they spend a ton of time on the field, and that is no good for any defense. Washington is another team that people say is "just a year away", but I've been hearing that since Steve Sarkisian was the coach. How many more 7 win seasons will it take before people realize that that is all Washington is, an average college football team.

The cream of the Pac 12 crop is Stanford. They have probably the second best back in all of football in Christian McCaffery, but that is where the threat begins and ends. They need a new QB, some new receivers and some one else to spell McCaffery out of the backfield. They are a lot like LSU, except their coach is better, but their defense isn't as good. Stanford should easily win the Pac 12 this year, regardless of who they put in at QB and receiver.

The Big 12 is another conference that used to be really competitive, but if Oklahoma doesn't cruise, it will de a disappointment. Yeah, TCU is decent and they have a decent transfer QB in Kenny Hill, but they lost Josh Docston and Trevoyne Boykin to the pros. They will have a good defense, but it is not as good as it once was. Who in the hell knows with Oklahoma State. Last year they were supposed to regress, but they played pretty well. I assume they are supposed to be decent this year, but that means they will probably take a step back. West Virginia is not the threat they once were. KU is a laughing stock. Kansas State needs to rebuild. Texas still doesn't have the players they need to compete. And Baylor, with all the problems they have going on right now, they may get the death penalty from the NCAA. Oklahoma has the best players and the best team, by a wide margin, in the Big 12. They will win it with ease.

Finally, as far as major conferences go, I have my favorite, the Big 10. The Big 10 has turned a corner over the past couple of seasons. They aren't as big joke anymore. They field good, high scoring and well defending teams. The Big 10 is good again.

The Big 10 is not all great, they do have teams that are not good and some that sit in the middle. Teams like Maryland, a long way away from competing, Illinois, hired Lovie Smith, but still a VERY long way away from competing, Purdue, who just isn't good and Minnesota, they play tough but blow games, are not great. The middling teams are getting better. As much as I may dislike Northwestern, they are always a tough game for anyone they play. Those kids are smart and they play smart football, for the most part. Indiana, who doesn't play a lick of defense, has a great offense that is capable of putting up 50 points on any given night. Nebraska always fields a very tough team. I know they had a losing record last year, but they got beat in some gut wrenching ways, and they crushed UCLA in their bowl game. Penn State always has a good run game and a decent defense, but their coach is holding them back. And Wisconsin will have a great running game, but not much else. That will still be good enough for 8 wins though.

The upper level of the Big 10 is scary good. Iowa is a very solid football team that plays very well technique football. They do not make mistakes. They are well coached and run their offense and defense as it should be run. Last year was an anomaly, I think they only lost 1 game, but they will still be very good. Michigan State lost a lot of important players from their team, but they are a tough team no matter what. They are also very, very dirty. They will have some rebuilding to do, but East Lansing is a tough place to play, and they will win some games that they shouldn't. Ohio State lost a lot to the draft as well, but JT Barrett is back, and so is Urban Meyer. This team is like Alabama. They don't rebuild, they reload. I'm sure they have some players that have been waiting to bust out, and now is their time. I HATE this team, but you have to give respect where it is due.

Then, there is my Michigan Wolverines. They surprised everyone last year, me included, by winning 10 games, but now, there's expectations. This team returns 14 starters from last year. They have an incredible defense, led by their defensive line. Jabrill Peppers is one of the best playmakers in the game. They have great receivers and tight ends and running backs on offense. But, they need to pick a QB, and the o line still needs some work. They also have to travel to Iowa, Columbus and East Lansing this season. Those will be tough road games. Michigan is better, but I think they are 1 year away from being a playoff threat.

As far as who I think wins the Big 10, I am going to have to pick the much hated Buckeyes once again. JT Barrett is really good, and Michigan is a year away and Iowa played out of their minds last year, and MSU lost too much to the pros.

I can't do a college football preview without mentioning Notre Dame. People seem to think they will be great, but I just think they will be good. They have to settle on a QB, and they lost a lot of skill players to the pros. Their defense is very far from elite too. I could see them winning 9, maybe even 10 games, but they are no threat to make the playoff.

Outside of the major conferences and the big names, the one team to watch out for this year is Houston. They were awesome last year, they beat FSU in a New Year's 6 bowl game, and they have almost everyone back from that team. Houston has a very good football team once again. They are making Rodney Peete proud.

I guess what it all comes down to is, who do I think will be in the playoff and who will face off for the title. Well, I think the 4 playoff teams will be Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Stanford. Alabama will find its way, they always do. Clemson will outscore everyone by 100 points to return. Oklahoma will cruise through the very weak Big 12, and I think an early season victory over Houston will help, and Stanford is going to be so much better than any team in the Pac 12, and I think they can go undefeated this year. My ranking of the teams, from 4 to 1 would be, Stanford, Alabama, Oklahoma and Clemson. So that means Clemson and Stanford would play each other, with Oklahoma and Alabama squaring off in the other matchup. I like Clemson and Oklahoma in those games. And, I'm going to go ahead and pick Clemson to win the 2017 National Title. They had their chance last year, but much like the Panthers in the NFL, I think they got better and will make up for what they missed out on last year.

As far as the Heisman goes, I think names will pop up all year. Guys like McCaffery, Fournette, Baker Mayfield, JT Barrett, Greg Ward, they will all get talked about, but I think Deshaun Watson will win it. He finished third last year, but I think he takes it home this season, both the Heisman and the title.

That does it for all of my football previews. I will check in at midseason on both, but for now, that is how I see things shaping up. Now please, bring on some real football games.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. What happens when Ty and RD stop being polite, and talk about reality television. Listen to the new X Millennial Man Podcast where reality television is given its time to shine. Download for free tomorrow. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik. 

Oklahoma's Buddy Hield has Earned the Top Pick in the NBA Draft

This is the number Buddy Hield has worked for

I've done enough previews and predictions recently about the men's tournament and I was on and off with my predictions. The Big 12 and the ACC both made me look stupid. Syracuse made us all look dumb. Gonzaga really crapped the bed. Kansas blew their most recent, best shot at a title. And on and on and on. But, we have our final four of Villanova, UNC, Syracuse and Oklahoma. Today though, I'm not going to do a prediction, I'm going to talk about one player that has looked absolutely incredible and why he should be the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. That player is Oklahoma's Buddy Hield.

I love everything that this kid has done throughout this whole tournament. I'm not an Oklahoma fan, but I'm sure as hell a Buddy Hield fan. In an era of "one and done", I couldn't be more happy that a senior, who came back to school to better his game and himself, is dominating this tournament. In fact, if you look at the final four, most of the teams important players are all upperclassmen. That's awesome. But, the best upper classmen, by a very wide margin, has been Hield. He simply cannot be stopped on the offensive end of the court. Just look back at his 8 threes and 37 point performance this past weekend against Oregon. Everything he did, be it getting open, driving to the basket, cutting to the basket, moving without the ball to get open, everything was exceptional. He looked like a man among boys, and Oregon has an older team. He played a wonderful game against Oregon. Heild also came up huge against VCU. He had a slow first half, but without him in the second half, Oklahoma would not have made the final four. He wasn't shooting well from the outside, so he drove to the basket more to score, but he also drove to pass. He did what was needed to help his team win that game. Then, when his shots started to fall, it was over for VCU. He was outstanding, especially in the second half of that game. When they played Texas A&M in the round of 32, he took total advantage of a young, inexperienced team. He scored when he wanted, he passed when he wanted and they won with ease. He was easily the smartest player on the court for, not only that game, but all of their games. And in their first round game, against CSU Bakersfield, he scored the most nonchalant 20 plus point game I'd seen. At one point, he had 4 or 5 points, I looked up ten minutes later and he had already surpassed 20 points and he did it with relative ease. He toyed with CSU Bakersfield.

Now Buddy Hield will he get to go up against a pretty good Villanova team. The Wildcats play good defense and they just beat a team that Oklahoma could not beat in Kansas. Now, Oklahoma did not beat KU this year, but Buddy Hield went off all three times they played. Nothing compared to the first showdown, the double overtime, 40 plus point performance he put up, but he still played pretty great all 3 times against a very good team. I'm very curious to see how he comes out against Villanova, but I can almost guarantee, he will get 20 plus points. This kid is just a flat out scorer.

Now, before I continue to go on about Buddy Hield's offense, he plays formidable defense, but no one knows that because his offensive prowess is phenomenal. But, he can more than hold his own on defense. He made a great block in the VCU game, perfectly timing his jump and swatting an easy layup. He is a good defender. But, he is a once in a lifetime scorer. This kid fills it up and then some. He also does well against top competition. I mentioned the KU games earlier, but he put up big games against Texas, Texas A&M and LSU among many others. He scored against everyone, no matter how they defended them.

This, among many other reasons is why I think Buddy Hield should be the number one overall pick in the draft. First of all, it's so stupid that the league has gone towards this "one and done" culture, drafting based on potential, rather than what they've shown over four years. The GM and owners all want teenagers that they can mold. But, what about guys like Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Draymond Green and Steph Curry. All these guys spent, at least, 3 years in college and they are all great pros. In Hield's matchup against LSU, and the preconceived number one pick, Ben Simmons, Hield absolutely torched him, and he looked like the best player on the floor by a wide margin. Hield led his team to a victory, and when things got close, Hield was the one that came up big and scored the big baskets when they were needed. Hield was in control of that game and never looked flustered. Simmons, he was scared to shoot at the end of that game. He looked intimidated by Hield and his confidence. Hield looked light years ahead of Simmons, but it won't matter come draft time.

The very sad thing about this draft, Hield has had to play lights out all year just to be considered a possible lottery pick. When you look at guys "big boards" or "top draft prospects", it's filled with unproven talent like Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, Skal Labiessere, Jamal Murray, Amile Jefferson, Damantos Sabaonis and on and on. Buddy Hield has finally made his way into the top 20, but why isn't he number one? He has clearly proven that he is the best player in men's college basketball, but to the "experts" that talk about the draft, his name almost never comes up. What the hell? Why aren't Hield or Perry Ellis or Denzel Valentine on the top of draft boards? All three have had very successful careers that span four years of college. They are all more ready to play in the NBA than any of these 19 year old kids. I don't care what Bill Simmons or Chad Ford has to say, I'd much rather have a 22 year old that has proven himself than a 19 year old that has only 20 or 30 games under their belt. They've gotten better against better competition and have very much improved their overall games. If I were the 76ers or the Lakers or the Nets, I'd take Buddy Hield in a heart beat before I'd take Ben Simmons, especially if I wanted to win sooner, rather than later. He can help turn a team around in his first season because he has a lot more experience than a teenager and he has been through harder and tougher times. These teenagers have never been told no or been criticized by a coach because they are prized recruits and you only get them for one year, so they have to treat them with kid gloves. Buddy Hield had to go through rough patches with his team and coach, making him a much tougher and a much better prepared player than a spoiled five star, blue chip recruit.

Take a look at last years draft. Some of the "one and done" players are decent, Karl Anthony-Towns and Justise Winslow come to mind, but some of the others still need four or five more years before they even sniff an all star team. Guys like D'Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones could have all benefited from, at the very least, one more year of college basketball. Basically, for me, I prefer players that have experience and maturity. They make for very good NBA players much quicker than a 19 or 20 year old does. Just look at recent 3 or four year college guys like Ray Macallum and Damien Lillard. They are the two main cogs to a Trailblazers team fighting for a playoff spot when they shouldn't be even close to a playoff bound team. Then, look at the 76ers, a team that only drafts based on potential. They are historically bad because the majority of their team is immature and has very little experience. They can't or don't know how to compete with grown men in a grown man sport. So yeah, if I had the number one pick in the 2016 draft, I wouldn't even flinch. I'd grab Buddy Hield and I'd be happy and comfortable to know that my team will be better much sooner since I have a more seasoned college player that has been through thick and thin and knows how to handle himself as opposed to a teenager that has never been told no. Experience is so much more important than potential, especially in basketball.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. If any NBA scouts are looking for an early thirties well seasoned rec league player, Ty is available to help your team. Make sure you are one of Ty's followers on twitter @tykulik.

Predicting the Rest of an Unpredictable Men's College Basketball Tournament

The current state of everyone's brackets

As I've done with my NBA preview, my NFL preview and my college basketball preview, I'm going to look back at what was right and wrong since the first weekend of the madness that is March is through. You can go back and read my five things I thought would happen before the tournament started and you can listen to our mini episode of the podcast to hear my initial thoughts.

Right out of the gate, I was way off about Michigan State, as was almost everyone else. They really laid an incredible egg against Middle Tennessee State. I don't want to hear about other reporters saying that MTSU was wrongly seeded and that they are a really good team either. Sure, they won 20 plus games, but just look at what happened against a very mediocre Syracuse team yesterday. Michigan State would have dismantled that same Syracuse team had they taken care of business on Friday, but they didn't. MSU got out played, out hustled and out coached by a very inferior team. This has to be the biggest upset in the history of the tournament. Sure, NC State had no business beating Houston when they had Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and Norfolk State beat a much better Missouri team in 2012, but this win by MTSU was, at least in my lifetime, the biggest upset ever. MSU didn't even choke away this game, MTSU just straight up beat them, never trailing. I assumed that MSU's size and experience would make, not only this game a walk through, but that they'd coast to the title. I was way wrong, but so was pretty much everyone else. MSU blew it and they lose a ton of players to graduation. This was a major shake up that busted millions of brackets all over the country.

Then, there were my thoughts on the ACC that I was way off base on as well. Of the 16 teams remaining, 6 are from the ACC. That's impressive. Miami beat Wichita State with relative ease. Sure, WSU made it close, even taking a one point lead in the second half, but Miami started and finished that game strong and they deserved to win. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has been incredibly luck in their run to the sweet sixteen. They were down 12 at halftime to Michigan, then Michigan went ice cold and they started to make some clutch shots and Michigan still had a chance at the end until Zak Irvin took a terrible three. Also, Michigan wasn't even supposed to make that a game. Then, yesterday against Stephen F Austin, they needed a miracle tip in with one second left. SFA should have won that game and all they needed to do was box a guy out and they'd still be in it. I still don't trust Notre Dame. Syracuse got lucky with their draw. They were bigger than Dayton, then they got to play MTSU. They don't impress me at all. Duke was down at halftime against UNC Wilmington and it took the refs giving them every single call in the second half for them to win in round one. Then, they come out and shot a ridiculous percentage from three against Yale, push their lead all the way up to 27 at one point in the second half, then let Yale get back in it, getting as close as four points. Duke can't rebound and they will lose soon. Virginia has looked good. They play a slower style of basketball and they play suffocating defense. They've had an easy draw, but they have looked pretty good in their two wins. They could make final four noise if they keep this play up.

The team I was hardest on, UNC, has looked really, really good. They look like the team that was the preseason number one pick and a lot of people's pick to win the title. They cruised in round one and then they absolutely throttled Providence in round two. They look scary good right now, especially since Marcus Paige is making shots. I regret not having more respect for them. They could get to the title game if they keep it up.

My two play in 11 seeds really let me down. Michigan looked sloppy against Tulsa, but they won. Then, they came out on fire in the first half against Notre Dame, but fizzled in the second half. They should have won, but they couldn't finish, that was their problem all year long. Wichita State looked really good against Vanderbilt in their play in win, but they came out completely flat and ice cold against Miami. They put themselves in too big a hole and they could never get out of it. I was let down by both these teams. Northern Iowa also had a huge choke last night when they let Texas A&M make up a 12 point deficit in 40 seconds. I said, on the podcast, I thought they could make a run, but they really blew it last night. That was probably the biggest choke job I've ever witnessed. At least Gonzaga, another double digit seed I liked, has looked pretty good. They've won both their games handily and now they get to face an inferior Syracuse team for a shot at the elite eight.

The Big 12 has been a let down for me. I thought that they'd represent 75 percent of the final four. Sure, Kansas and Oklahoma are still there and they look good too. KU has had no problem with their first two games and they should coast to the final four. And Oklahoma, while VCU put a scare in them, made in on the heels of Buddy Hield. He has to be the player of the year now after MSU and Denzel Valentine's shocking and embarrassing loss. Without Hield yesterday, Oklahoma doesn't win that game. He is a scoring machine. But, the Baylor's and West Virginia's of the world really blew it. Baylor got outplayed by Yale. Baylor was bigger, but Yale out rebounded them. Side note, if you want to see something truly great, go back and watch the Baylor postgame conference when a reporter asked a Baylor player how they got out rebounded by Yale. This player's response is priceless and hilarious. Baylor would have crushed Duke had they taken care of business, but now we will never know. West Virginia looked bad in their opener. SFA did anything it wanted at anytime against WVU. I thought WVU had final four potential, but has Bob Huggins ever really done anything of note since leaving Cincinnati except for blowing winnable games. That game was a joke and WVU looked pretty terrible.

I was also wrong about a Big Ten team winning the title. I thought it would be MSU in a cake walk. I was wrong and so was the majority of everyone else. The Big Ten still has three teams left, but who really believes Maryland or Wisconsin will win the title? I know in my preseason preview I picked Maryland, but that was a straight up guess and after watching them this past weekend, there is no way they are a championship level team. And Wisconsin got very lucky in both games. They were ice cold against Pitt, but Pitt was even colder. Then, they hit a buzzer beater to beat Xavier. That play was beautiful, but it should have never happened. That charge that was called on Xavier was one of the worst calls in a basketball game at any level. That ref wanted to determine the outcome of the game and that should never be the case. But, that terrible call let us witness one of the best in bounds plays of all time. There is no way either of Maryland or Wisconsin wins the title. Indiana, on the other hand, I do believe in. I had them picked to beat Kentucky and they looked decent doing it. They made big plays when they needed to and got stops when they needed to. They are the Big Ten's best shot at a title this year. 

Where we stand now, we have 6 ACC teams, 3 Big Ten Teams, 3 Big 12 teams, 1 Big East team, 1 SEC team, 1 Pac 12 team and 1 mid major. The way I see it now, the Big 12 is not getting all three in, but they have an excellent shot at 2. Iowa State will probably lose to Virginia later this week, KU should have no problem with Maryland, then they will get the winner of Miami-Villanova, which should be another cake walk for them. Oklahoma gets a very young and inexperienced Texas A&M team they should beat, then the winner of Oregon, the most overrated one seed of all time perhaps, and Duke, who I have ZERO trust in. They can win their next two games with ease. Unfortunately for the Big Ten, Maryland will probably lose to KU, Wisconsin can and should beat Notre Dame, but then they get the winner of Indiana-UNC who would crush them, and that leaves Indiana, and they have to face a red hot UNC team right now and I just don't see them beating UNC. The ACC's best shot, of the 6 remaining teams they have left, is either UNC or Virginia. I think Miami will have it's hands full with Villanova. Duke will probably lose to Oregon. Syracuse is going to get destroyed by Gonzaga. But, Virginia should beat Iowa State, setting up a showdown with Gonzaga, in what would be a great game. And UNC, if they beat Indiana, will coast over either Notre Dame or Wisconsin. UNC has the easiest and most likely path for an ACC team. Sorry Pac 12, Oregon will not represent your conference in the final four. St, Joe's should have won last night, but either Duke or the winner of Texas A&M-Oklahoma will end your season. Same thing for the SEC. A&M is too young and too inexperienced and they also got incredibly lucky to still be in this tournament, their season will end soon enough. Villanova will be its usual choking self soon, probably against Miami. They will find a way to lose because that is what they do. Which leaves me with Gonzaga. I love Gonzaga this year and they have been very impressive thus far. They will beat Syracuse which will most likely set them up against Virginia. I think they can easily win that game and go to the final four. They are playing top notch basketball at the right time.

So, if I have to pick a final four with the 16 remaining teams, I will go with KU in the South, Oklahoma in the West, UNC in the East and Gonzaga in the Midwest. I think from those four teams, KU and UNC will play for the title and I think KU wins. That's how I see it now. I will admit that this tournament has been fun to watch. While it may not always be appealing to your eyes, at least there's been buzzer beaters and upsets galore after the first weekend. Hopefully, that continues throughout the rest of this wacky and wild tournament.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He takes gret solace in the fact that not only his, but every realistic person out there, has a busted bracket. It is madness if you are not following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

5 Thoughts on the 2016 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

Gyms will start to fill up on Tuesday when the madness begins.

Instead of doing a NCAA men's tournament preview, since I've already picked two different winners in two previous blogs, I'm going to give you guys five predictions of things I think will happen in this years tournament. I will not pick a winner, but I will give you 4 or 5 or even 6 possibilities of who could win. I'm also not going to pick the player of the tournament or anything like that, I'm just going to give you five random things I think will happen in the coming weeks of games. On with the countdown.

At number 5, I don't see any ACC team making it to the final four. At first glance you might think, what about UNC or Duke or even Miami, but I think the ACC is very overrated this year. Their best team is UNC, but they've shown time and time again this year that they can choke at any time. Take their home loss against Duke earlier this year. They dominated that game, but they let Duke stick around and they got beat. UNC can't be trusted. Duke won't get out of the first weekend. If they win their first game, they will most likely play a much bigger and more experienced Baylor team that will crush them on the boards and throw around their guards like rag dolls. They will get rolled. And Miami, while they've had a great year, I just don't believe in their team. They'll get bounced quick.

My number 4 prediction, one of the 4 teams playing in the play in games for the 11 seed, be it Michigan, Tulsa, Vanderbilt or Wichita State, will get to the sweet sixteen. I have the most faith in Wichita State because they're experienced and they've gone deep in this tournament in years past. But, Vanderbilt and Michigan, if they win, could make some noise. Michigan has won some big games without their best player for most of the year, and if they're hitting their threes, they can beat almost anyone. Vandy has spent the majority of this year ranked and plays high level offense and, much like Michigan, if they're hitting shots, they will win. Tulsa is the only one of these teams I have no faith in. They don't belong in the tournament and if they beat Michigan, they will get crushed in their first round game. They lost to a very mediocre Memphis team twice this year, so that says everything I need to know about them.

My number 3 prediction, Kentucky doesn't make it out of round 2. They will win their first round game, but that would set up a showdown, most likely, with Indiana. I like Indiana in that game if it happens. Indiana has more experience and more depth and if they catch Kentucky on an off night, they will crush them. I really like Kentucky's point guard Ullis, but Yogi Ferrell is a much better and older and experienced version of him. Indiana's front court is better and could easily dominate Kentucky's young and very thin, in stature, front court. IU had better depth as well. I just don't see Kentucky beating them.

My number 2 prediction, this will be a wild and crazy and fun tournament to watch. I know that I've ragged on men's college basketball, and I still think it's borderline unwatchable, but the fact that this tournament is so wide open, while it may not be pleasing to watch, it will be interesting to see all the upsets that will happen and it will be exciting. I have no faith in a lot of the high seeds, especially Oregon as a number one, but, some lower seeded teams like Yale, Northern Iowa and Gonzaga can make some noise. I especially like Gonzaga as an 11 and I like them a lot in their first round game against Utah. Utah is good, but Gonzaga is bigger and deeper and has more tournament experience. If Northern Iowa can win their first round game, I believe they can make a run to the elite eight. And Yale, these Ivy League teams get in and they're always a tough out. Just ask our editor RD about his Princeton over UCLA pick a million years ago (ed note: Did you know that I picked #13 Princeton to beat #4 UCLA in 1996? I did.) . Or look at what Harvard did last year. Basically, this is a year where literally all 68 teams can win the whole thing if put in the right situation of get hot at the right time. Which will make this an exciting tournament.

Which brings me to my number one prediction, the Big 12 will make up 3/4 of the final four, but a Big 10 team will win. I fully believe that Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma can get to the final four. KU has been lights out lately and they are the best team in all of men's college basketball. They should coast to the final four. I also believe in Oklahoma and Baylor a lot. They're both big, experienced and just flat out good. Baylor has a bunch of humongous guys in their front court that will punish smaller opponents. Oklahoma has one of, if not the, best players in Buddy Hield. That dude can put up 40 any given night and he will single handily win at least two games for the Sooners. I also like West Virginia's chances too. They play suffocating defense that frustrates teams into critical mistakes. They can do damage in the tournament. But, I believe that Michigan State has the best chance to come away with the title. They got screwed by not getting a one seed, but where they're seeded in their bracket, it's a cake walk for them. They have the best player, Denzel Valentine and they have experience and depth at all five positions. They can crush you inside and outside. They have it all. In a very weird season, they have been the one true consistent team, when at full strength.

Take these predictions as you will, but I fully believe this stuff will happen. Get ready for the tournament, fill out your brackets, and watch the craziness unfold.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor is wondering where Ty put Xavier, and why he did not say the Musketeers will win it all. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ben Simmons Represents Everything that is Wrong with Men's College Basketball

The one thing the NCAA seems to be forgetting.

I know that I bag on men's college basketball a lot and today will be no exception. The game has become way too watered down. The talent level isn't nearly as good as it was, as little as 6 or 7 years ago. The "one and done" culture has ruined the game. You can't ever really figure out which players are on which big time team because the majority of that team leaves after one, or if you're lucky, two years. Kentucky, who was in the Final Four last year, lost 7 players to the pros. You read that right, 7 players left with at least 2 years of eligibility left. They're ranked in the top 25 again, and will make the tournament again, but the only player I can name that's still on the team from last year off the top of my head is point guard Tyler Ullis. He's good, but if you are a top 25 team, I should be able to name 3 of 5 starters I think. I know they had a great recruiting class, but they always do and they are always changing the roster.

This is so frustrating to me, a big time basketball fan. I love all basketball, especially the NBA, but I used to love college basketball, not anymore though. I hate the "one and done" culture and this season has been a huge reason why. All these "studs" that were going to come in and turn the top teams around have not really lived up to the task. The two best teams in college basketball, Kansas and Michigan State, have mainly upperclassmen. They're led by guys that have been there before and know how to play. Oklahoma is also a really good team, led by a senior, Buddy Hield. Those three teams I have faith in to go far in the tournament.

These teams led by freshman, teams like Duke, Kentucky and LSU, I have no faith in to make deep tourney runs, or even make the tournament. Duke will be there, but Grayson Allen(sophomore) and Brandon Ingram(freshman), will not guide them to back to back titles, they'll be lucky to make it to the first weekend. Kentucky will bow out very early because their freshman class has been a humongous disappointment and they have no upperclassmen leader, except for the oft injured Alex Poythress. And then there's LSU, the team that is the reason for this blog today.

Louisiana State University had the cream of the crop sign there, Ben Simmons. This kid was a can't miss prospect out of Australia. He was a once in a lifetime player. He could pass like Magic, shoot like Durant and run the floor like Chris Paul. He was going to bring LSU back to its glory days, when Shaq was patrolling the paint. He was compared, by every journalist no matter what publication, to all those players I mentioned above. He was supposed to be the best freshman since Kevin Durant was at Texas for one year, said Bill Simmons. This kid was going to make this season a must watch for college basketball fans. Now, with all that being said, he is a very good basketball player and he will almost certainly be the first pick in the NBA draft, but there is also some problems that have come along with this kid.

First of all, LSU has a slim, and I mean very slim, like winning the SEC tournament may be their only chance to make the NCAA tournament slim, chance at getting in. Some of this is coaching and some is the kid's fault. The coach at LSU clearly doesn't know how to use Simmons properly. He'll use him as a decoy way too often and he doesn't have the ball in his hands at critical times, even though it's clear he is the best player on the floor. But Ben Simmons sometimes seems gun shy at the end of critical games and he passes on the final shot way too much. I know he wants to be unselfish, but if you are supposed to be the best player in over a decade, you have to be selfish and take those final shots, you're team is expecting that out of you.

Then there is the fact that LSU has almost no chance of making the NCAA tournament. Most teams that have had a big time recruit like this have made the tournament and most have made very deep runs. Duke won the title with three freshman as their top guys. When Durant was at Texas I believe they made the sweet sixteen. Kentucky last year made the final four and won with an Anthony Davis led team a few years before that. Arizona, with Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made the elite eight last year. So yeah, most of these freshman led teams make at least some noise in the NCAA tournament. Even though the NCAA doesn't recognize it, Michigan and the Fab Five made the title game in their first and second seasons. LSU though, they look like your prototypical NIT team. Good enough to be over .500, but barely. They are 18-13 as we speak, with little to no quality wins. They do not have a resume that screams at large bid, not even close. If they don't win the SEC tournament, I don't see them getting into the NCAA tournament. There are a lot of better teams that have better resumes that are more deserving of an at large bid.

Which brings me to my last and most crucial point of today. Ben Simmons was not eligible for the Wooden Award, given to the best player in men's college basketball, for "academic reasons". Some reporters, mainly ESPN and Bleacher Report, came out and said what a travesty it is that this kid won't even be considered for the award, that it was an injustice to a great player. I say, what the hell is the matter with you morons that think basketball is more important that getting good grades? I know that most of these "one and done" players don't go to go to school, but at least the ones there make the grades, or it's made to seem that they have made the grades, keeping them eligible to play. Ben Simmons has clearly not been up to snuff in the classroom which is the most important thing. It's called student athlete for a reason. There is a reason student comes first. That is the main thing you should be focused on when entering college, being a student first and an athlete second. I know, he's going to be a multi millionaire in less than 2 moths, but Jesus Christ, go to class. I guarantee that the professors will just pass you for showing up. Also, I don't think he'd even have a 10 percent chance to win the award. I'd give it to Denzel Valentine, Buddy Hield, Perry Ellis or Georges Niang before I'd even consider Ben Simmons. Those guys are all leaders on top 25 teams that should make deep tourney runs.

People in the major media, I'm looking at you Bleacher Report and ESPN, need to stop coddling this kid and make him own up to his faults. He will be the first pick in the upcoming draft, but what if he is a bust? What if he is Sam Bowie? Will the same reporters still be there for him? I doubt it. This kid is good, possibly great, but he needs to get his head on his shoulders and grow up fast if he wants to earn the money that is about to be showered upon him. He is not Steph Curry or LeBron James or Kevin Durant yet. Hell, he's not even at DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry's level yet, at least those guys have proven they're real NBA players.

Screw the NCAA and screw the NBA for this stupid "one and done" culture that they've created. It's a menace and it will cheapen the NBA is 5 or 6 years. Enjoy great basketball now because the "one and done's" are coming to ruin professional basketball.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He often wonders why these kids even bother with college, play overseas and then come to the draft. It seems so simple. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Chaos of the College Basketball Season will Extend Well into March

This season has even our ancestors confused

As I've done with the NBA, NFL and MLB seasons, I want to check up on my preseason preview for men's college basketball and see how I did and what I think will happen now that the regular is just about done.

First of all, this season of men's college basketball has been very, very ugly. There is no clear cut best team out there. The talent pool has been incredibly watered down by this new "one and done" culture. These kids don't go to college to learn how to play team basketball anymore, they go to increase their draft position. No one plays team basketball anymore. It's all one on one and let me show you my skills to prove that I can play at the next level. Adam Silver needs to focus more on changing the age limit rule for early entry in the draft and less on the "hack a whoever" problem. Men's college basketball is becoming a joke, and until they do something to remedy the "one and done", it will remain a big, big problem.

I really dislike college basketball at the moment.

With all that being said, I still watch because it is basketball and I love basketball. As I said before, there is no clear cut top five teams. Last year it was almost a foregone conclusion that Duke, Kentucky and Wisconsin would be three fourths of the final four. Michigan State making it was a surprise, but they are also a traditional powerhouse, so was it really that surprising? Nope. This year though, it's a total crapshoot. I bet gamblers hate how wide open it is this season. There is, at least, 10 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the final four and winning the title.

I'll start with the ACC. The ACC has the team that most consider the "best" team in North Carolina, but they just lost to an unranked Duke team at home. Sometimes UNC looks like world beaters, other days they look average. Duke has been wildly inconsistent this year. They were in the top ten, fell out of the rankings completely, then beat Virginia and UNC. They are a team that relies on streaky shooters and freshman and sophomores and their underclassmen are nowhere near as good as their underclassmen last year. Virginia has experience, but they play ugly offensive basketball. Notre Dame is okay, but they will lose an early round game in the tournament. Louisville gave themselves a bogus postseason ban, due to all their sex parties and their sex depraved head coach, but I don't think they would have made much noise in the tournament anyway. Miami may be the second best team in the ACC, but they are classic tournament chokers. everyone else is mediocre. UNC should be the cream of the crop, but I have no faith in them after what happened against Duke.

The Big East has two good teams and that's it. No disrespect to Georgetown, but they peaked early. The Big East is Villanova and Xavier. They played last night and number 5 Xavier knocked off number 1 Villanova. It was a good game, but the problem with these two teams, they always get seeded very high in the tournament and they always lose way earlier than they should. They both have experience, but like I said, that experience is used to getting knocked out of the tournament early. I'd love if they proved me and everyone else wrong and made a deep tournament run because I like both these teams, but I don't think that will happen.

The SEC has been very average this year. Kentucky was supposed to be great, signing another excellent class, but they have been one of, if no the, most inconsistent team in all of men's basketball. They have no go to scorer and their stud freshman have not lived up to the preseason hype. Texas A&M is ranked, but I couldn't tell you the name of one player on that team. LSU was supposed to be awesome since they signed Ben Simmons, the overall number one high school recruit, but they might not even make the NCAA tournament. Arkansas is mediocre, Ole Miss and Mississippi State both stink and so does the rest of the conference. Kentucky will still win the SEC, but they are not the same team that they were last year.

The Big Ten, my conference that I watch, has been very unpredictable. Michigan State is supposed to be the cream of the crop, but they've had to deal with multiple injuries and very inconsistent play. They are still really good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Iowa has come out of nowhere and put themselves into the top ten, but they have lost three straight and one of those losses was to a very bad Penn State team. Maryland, my preseason pick to win the title, has been as inconsistent as Michigan State. They started out on fire this season, climbing all the way up to the number 2 ranking, but they recently lost to a Minnesota team that was winless in Big Ten play. Michigan, my team, has been without Caris Levert for most of the season but, they've beaten the teams they are supposed to beat. But, when they played quality competition, they've been absolutely run out of the gym. Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa and Xavier all beat them by double figures and made it look easy. Indiana, the current leader of the conference, has looked good, but when they have to play on the road, they are not the same team. They get every call at home, but the road, where it's called fairly, they look average. Wisconsin has come on strong lately, but I have zero faith in them and their former coach, Bo Ryan, is a world class scumbag. Even with Indiana sitting atop the conference, Michigan State and Maryland are the two best teams in the Big Ten.

The Big 12 may be the best conference in college basketball this year. Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia, Texas and Baylor have spent the majority of the season in the top 25. Oklahoma and Kansas look really good. They are the two teams that may be the only "sure thing" in college basketball this year. The issue is that KU has a tendency to choke, and who knows with Oklahoma, especially since Buddy Hield has been in a mini slump. West Virginia plays suffocating defense, but very poor offense. Baylor seems to be good only when playing at home and Texas is still learning Shaka Smart's system.  KU has proven twice, beating Oklahoma at home and on the road, that they are still the best team in the Big 12.

The mid majors I mentioned in my preseason preview, Witchita State and Gonzaga have been major disappointments. Witchita State had everyone back from a team that almost made the final four last year, but they have been pretty mediocre this year. And Gonzaga has fallen off a cliff. I believe I had them in my preseason final four, but they have been pretty terrible this year. The mid majors are not going to crash the final four at all this year.

Even though it's been a rough year to watch, the major conferences will be well represented in the tournament and make the final four. Like I said, this season is wide open, but I will take a crack at the final four anyway. I guess, and I cannot stress how much of this is literally a guess, UNC, Michigan State, Kansas and Oklahoma will be in the final four and Oklahoma will win it all. Once again, total guess. So, there is my almost end of the regular season wrap up for men's college basketball. The one thing that will be fun, while it will still be a rough watch, at least the tournament will be exciting and all 68 teams that make it will have a shot at the title. Hell, maybe we will finally see a 16 seed beat a 1 seed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This college basketball season may provide another big upset, like the Princeton UCLA game that the head editor will not shut up about. It is your duty to follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty Previews College Football's Final Four Teams

How about one more game of catch with old orangie

The final college football playoff rankings came out yesterday. The final four was revealed and there were no surprises.

At number one you have Clemson, the team that's been number one most of the season. Number two, Alabama, with a great running game and a very good defense. Three, Michigan State, probably the luckiest team in all of college football this year. And number four is Oklahoma, maybe the hottest team in college football right now. If I was on the committee the only difference I'd have would be Oklahoma at 3 and Michigan State at four.

When looking back at my preseason preview, I got two of the top four correct with MSU and Alabama. In my midseason rewrite, I only got one team correct and that was Clemson. TCU fell apart due to injuries and a porous defense and Ohio State lost late to a team in the final four pushing them out. I also put LSU in at one point, but they have no QB and they got beat three times. Stanford was in there too, but Oregon beat them late in the year and they didn't do enough at the end to leapfrog the three teams ahead of them. So, at two different points, I got three of the final four correct. Sorry Oklahoma, I had no faith in you and your coach, but you have proven me wrong. I thought after Texas beat you guys, you'd blow a couple more games, but you stepped it up on offense and your defense came alive. Like I said earlier, Oklahoma is the hottest team in football right now.

So, let's get into it and look at the matchups.

The one versus four matchup pits Clemson against Oklahoma. This should be a pretty high scoring affair. Both offenses are very good and play very fast. Their defenses, on the other hand, they tend to give up big plays and have a hard time shutting down quality opponents. Both QB's, Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma and Deshaun Watson at Clemson are Heisman candidates, Watson more so than Mayfield. Deshaun Watson runs the Clemson team exquisitely. He is a precision passer and a deadly runner. He throws a great deep ball and runs the read option very well. He has weapons all over the field and spreads the ball to all of those weapons evenly. Watson has had a spectacular season and he could very well be the determining factor in this game. Baker Mayfield has had a very good season too. He transferred away from Texas Tech to Oklahoma this season and has thrived in the Sooner offense. He too is a good runner, but not on the same level as Deshaun Watson. He throws a good short to intermediate ball, but Oklahoma doesn't take too many deep shots, that's not their offense. Oklahoma has a lot of great weapons as well and they have a better running back in Semaji Perrine than Clemson has. He is a bruising yet explosive runner. He, much like Watson, could be the determining factor for Oklahoma. This game really comes down to the QB that plays better. As I said before, the defenses won't really stop either team, so the QB that leads his team better will help his team win. I really wanted to pick Oklahoma to win this game, but Clemson, and more importantly, Deshaun Watson, are having a magical season, and that will continue in the Orange Bowl with a close, high scoring win. The final score will be something like 42-38 in Clemson's favor.

In the Cotton Bowl we couldn't have gotten a more opposite matchup than the Orange Bowl in number two Alabama versus number three Michigan State. Both these teams are predicated on defense and running the ball. Running wasn't Michigan State's strong suit until Connor Cook got hurt a month ago, but they've taken to the run since then and its greatly benefitted them. LJ Scott has been a revelation and he doesn't play like a freshman. He gets stronger as the game goes on and he wants the ball in critical moments, take last weeks Big Ten Title as an example. He willed that team to a victory and a spot in the playoff. Connor Cook is clearly hurt and I don't know if he'll be any more healthy for the game and that sucks for MSU because they will not beat Alabama by simply running the ball. Alabama's defense is absolutely suffocating. I don't know how any team expects to run for any kind of yards against their front seven. They are faster, quicker, stronger, smarter and deeper than any other front seven in all of college football. Their secondary is equally as good. They cover better than everyone else and they're just flat out better than everyone. On offense, Alabama has the presumptive Heisman favorite in Derrick Henry at running back. Ever since their game against LSU, when he looked better than Leonard Fournette, he's been on an absolute tear, averaging 200 plus yards of rushing per game. He, much like their defense, is better, faster, quicker, stronger and smarter than every other running back in football. He's an absolute beast. Their offensive line is massive and blows people off the line, opening all those holes for Henry to run through. The problem lies with their QB and receivers. They don't have a receiving threat like Julio Jones or Amari Cooper anymore. The receivers are good, not great. Their QB is a fine game manager, but he's no real threat. He throws a subpar deep ball and he gets hit way more than he should. He holds the ball way too much. This game will come down to who can run the ball better and that's a HUGE plus in Alabama's favor. They have the better offensive line and they have the MUCH better running back. MSU may hang with Alabama for a half, but the Crimson Tide will cruise to an easy 28-10 victory in the Cotton Bowl. This was MSU's last real shot to win a title, but Connor cook is too banged up and, while their defense has played better as of late, they will not be able to stop Alabama and they won't be able to move the ball that much on Alabama. Alabama is the superior team.

So that leaves us with Clemson playing Alabama in the title game on January 11th. Number one versus number two. Two completely different style teams. Clemson is a spread team with a ton of quickness and scores in bunches. Alabama is a pro style team that beats you into submission on both the offensive and defensive lines and they want to chew up as much clock as possible by running 50 times a game if they have to. I like this matchup a lot and I will be rooting for Clemson, I hate Nick Saban and he's the biggest curmudgeon in all of sports, but Alabama is too good. They're just as fast as Clemson and they are much, much bigger. After they got beat by Ole Miss early in the season I thought Alabama was done, but they figured it out, of course, and they look just as good now as they did when they beat LSU in the BCS title game a few years ago. Alabama will beat Clemson pretty handily in the title game with a final score of 35-13. They're the best of this final four bunch.

So, Alabama will be your 2016 National Champs.

I'll also give one more Heisman prediction to keep some continuity and two big coaching changes that I think will take place. I think, as every other major publication does, that Derrick Henry will win the Heisman. Since the LSU game he's been on fire. He's broken Herschel Walker records. That's pretty god damn impressive. But, don't be surprised if Christian McCaffery, Stanford's running back, whose broken some of Barry Sanders records, gets some Heisman love. I think he's finish a narrow second to Henry. And the two big coaching moves you ask. I think both Urban Meyer and Nick Saban jump to the pros. In Meyer's case, he's won multiple titles at multiple schools in college, he's losing coordinators left and right, some kind of recruiting violations will almost assuredly be coming his way and the Cleveland Browns will stupidly(do they do anything smart) pay him a humongous amount of money to not only coach, but give him a say in player personnel. He will fail spectacularly if he makes the jump, but the amount of money will be too much to pass up. In Saban's case, and I'm really going out on a limb with this prediction, he failed once in the NFL and a la Pete Carroll, I think that he thinks he can win a Super Bowl. He can't, he's a much better fit for the college game, but his ego is so big, he thinks he will now succeed in the NFL. He's a better fit for college because he is the boss, he makes the most money, but in the pros, the coach is low man on the totem poll and that won't work well for Saban. But, I think his pride and ego and the fact that he's also losing coordinators left and right will give him the "confidence" that he will now succeed in the NFL where he previously failed. He won't, but I think he thinks he's ready to make that leap. So, two major college football programs will be looking for new coaches this summer.

There you have it, my final college football blog of the year. Tell me why I'm right or wrong in the comment section and lets enjoy the bowl season. I'm happy that my Wolverines are playing on New Years day, and I think this final four is a very good and competitive final four. The committee got it right this year and the playoff should be good.

At least, I hope so.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He expects Meyer to leave Ohio State because the coach is afraid of what Harbaugh is bringing to Ann Arbor. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty Makes a Few Updates to his 2015 College Football Preview.

Ty  predicts he could throw this ball over those mountains.

We are a bit more than halfway through the college football season and I wanted to take time today to see what I got right, wrong and what I want to correct in regards to my college football 2015 season preview.

I feel like I've done a pretty good job with my picks and predictions, but there's things I definitely got wrong or need change. I'll go through each conference that I previewed and I'll pick the four playoff teams and who I have for the Heisman. On with the mid season preview.

Let's start with the SEC. I had Alabama winning the SEC, and I still believe they have a good chance to win, but I didn't think that LSU would be their biggest challenger. I thought a team like Georgia or Ole Miss or even Texas A&M would challenge them. But LSU and Florida have been their biggest competition, and I think LSU will beat Alabama in their big game this weekend. Georgia has been plagued with injuries and poor QB play. Ole Miss, who beat Alabama this year, played their best football in my opinion already. And A&M, who was supposed to have a good defense this year, has been inept on offense lately, and Alabama and Ole Miss ran rough shot on their defense, they're not at their level yet. Florida has been surprisingly good this year. Sure, their QB is now suspended for the rest of this season for PEDs, but this team wins with defense and running, and they're doing those things very well. I don't think they'll finish the season as strong as they've started, but had you told me at the beginning of the year they'd be a 9 or 10 win team, I would've called you crazy. But, they're on their way to that number easily. LSU, in my opinion, is the team to beat in the SEC. They need to beat Alabama this weekend, which I already said I think they will, but they've been stout on defense and their running game, behind the new Heisman front runner, Leonard Fournette, makes them the favorite. They don't have a QB that's really division one caliber, but neither does Alabama and while Alabama does have Derrick Henry running the ball, he's no Leonard Fournette and LSU's defense is better. LSU is my new pick to win the SEC.

On to the Pac 12. I was completely wrong about this conference. I assumed that Oregon would continue to dominate as they have for the past couple of years, but then they ran into Utah. Utah destroyed them in Oregon and they haven't been the same team since, switching QB's weekly it seems and opposing teams torching their defense. Oregon took a big step back. Utah, after throttling Oregon, looked like the team to beat, but they got pounded at USC. Utah is still good and a team with one loss, can still win this conference. USC has beaten Utah and California, but lost to Notre Dame and still have to play UCLA. They also fired their coach for being drunk on the sideline, so this team is still a mess. UCLA is good, but they lost Myles Jack for the year, and they are led by a freshman QB, who looks like he's hitting the freshman wall. Then we have Stanford. They shit the bed in their first game at Northwestern, but since then, they've looked completely dominant. This conference is going to come down to Utah and Stanford and I'm going to pick Stanford to win. They just look so good right now.

The Big 12 looks just how I thought it would look. Sure, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma look good, but they aren't on Baylor or TCU's level. Oklahoma State is undefeated, but they just gave up 53 points to Texas Tech and that doesn't bode well for the rest of their season. Oklahoma is okay, but they've blown one game already and given their history under Bob Stoops, they'll do it again. Baylor looked like they were going to give TCU a run for the conference until their QB went down with a broken bone on his neck. Their offense was running like a well oiled machine, but I don't think that will happen with a back up QB. That's unfortunate for them. TCU is winning games with Boykin running their offense to perfection. He's putting up video game numbers and will continue to do that the rest of the year. Baylor was going to challenge, but TCU will win the Big 12.

The Big 10 has been pretty predictable except for one team. Ohio State is still number one, but they've looked unimpressive and now their starting QB has been arrested for drunk driving. Their new back up QB, when he's not busy complaining about losing the starting spot, should have went pro last year because he's looked pretty blah this year. Their coach is also a piece of garbage. He goes on TV and bad mouths the way other teams handle their punishment and then gives a lame punishment to JT Barrett and he also recruited and stood by a convicted murderer while head coach at Florida. Michigan State is undefeated, but had Michigan been able to punt the ball, they wouldn't be a top ten team anymore. Their early season home win over Oregon doesn't look so impressive anymore. Iowa has been the biggest surprise to me. They're undefeated and the rest of their schedule is a cake walk. But, even if they win the Big 10 championship game, they won't, the committee would be hard pressed to put them in the playoff. They're not that impressive and neither is their schedule. Northwestern looked like they may have surprised after a 5-0 start, then Michigan shut them out and Iowa hammered them in Northwestern. They're not that good. Michigan has looked very good on defense, with the Minnesota game being a lone exception, but they are very unimpressive on offense. They'll win 8 or 9 games. Penn State plays good defense, but they can't protect their QB. And Wisconsin has disappointed. The rest of the Big Ten is not good. Unfortunately, the Michigan State-Ohio State game will decide this conference, and I have to begrudgingly pick Ohio State. I hate them so much, but they will win the Big 10 this year.

The ACC is between two teams. Clemson and Florida State are the only teams worth talking about. Duke got screwed, Miami is light years behind, NC State and Georgia Tech are completely disappointing and the rest of the conference doesn't bear mentioning. Clemson is a much better team than Florida State and should win this conference with ease.

The AAC, the conference I gave very little mention to will get the same. Memphis has an impressive win over Ole Miss and are undefeated. Houston has an explosive QB and are also undefeated, and Temple is 7-1 with a pretty stout defense. They all have yet to play each other, but I think Temple will win. They've played the toughest schedule and they have the players on defense to stop both Houston and Memphis.

The two independents I mentioned in my preview, Notre Dame and BYU have had decent seasons. Notre Dame has looked good despite losing Malik Zaire in the first game, but their wins aren't very impressive and the toughest team they played, Clemson, pretty much shut them down. Their coach is also an insane person. BYU started with two very dramatic wins, but when they play upper level division one teams, they don't look so impressive. Boise State suffered an early season loss to BYU, but looked good after that, climbing back into the top 25, then Utah State hammered them. This version of Boise State is not as good as previous Boise State teams.

So, where do we stand today? I think I did a decent job. My original four playoff teams were Ohio State, Alabama, TCU and Michigan State. Today, my final four is, Ohio State, TCU, Clemson and LSU. Two changes, that's it. I think the title game will feature TCU and Clemson, and I still have TCU winning. They're outside the top four right now and they got screwed last season, so I think they will play with a fury unmatched and prove the committee wrong from last season. They're still the best team, in my opinion. As for the Heisman, I'm going to stick with Tevoyne Boykin, but Leonard Fournette has been extremely impressive. If he can do to Alabama what he's done to every other team this year, he will probably win, but Boykin is putting up humongous numbers and he will lead TCU to a title. How do you not award him the Heisman if he does that.

So, there's my corrections from the midway point of the college football season. Tell me why I'm wrong in the comment section, and give me your picks.

Thanks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This is his 100th post on SeedSing. Congratulate him by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty takes a few guesses with his Men's College Basketball Preview

Finishing up with all my basketball previews, I'm going to preview the upcoming NCAA season. Now, before I get started. I want to point out how hard this will be for me. I was doing research last night, and during my research, I found out that I don't know many of the new "stars" in college basketball today.

That's a problem.

Men's college basketball is now being defined by this new "one and done" culture, and I hate it. There's no continuity anymore, and players come and go after one season. We don't get any sense of how good a team can truly be because of the rule that you have to be one year removed from high school before you can go pro. I wasn't a fan of the straight from high school to the pros, but the "one and done" culture may be worse. These athletes are basically rentals. A school recruits these kids knowing that they will only be there for one season, and coaches and upperclassmen don't seem to care. Every year it's a revolving door. A five star comes to a school like Duke or Kentucky or Kansas, leaves after the season and a new crop of five star recruits come in. Another thing that blows my mind, pundits and professional broadcasters can't seem to understand how a team like Wichita State or Gonzaga can compete with the blue bloods of college basketball. It's simple dummies, the Wichita State's and Gonzaga's of the world have something that these teams that play mostly freshman don't have, camaraderie. The kids playing at Wichita State or Gonzaga have been playing together for four, or at the very least, three years. They know each other and they know each others tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The teams led by freshman don't have this and it hurts them when it matters most.

Take last years Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky. Kentucky was undefeated, led by a bunch of All Americans and had just come off their closest game of the year in the Elite Eight against Notre Dame. Wisconsin steamrolled Arizona, another freshman laden team, and they were ready for Kentucky. Wisconsin was also led by a senior(Frank Kaminsky), a junior(Sam Dekker) and a slew of upperclassmen. Wisconsin beat Kentucky up and by the end of the game, the freshman at Kentucky were bruised, battered and physically and emotionally tired. Age won out. Now, that didn't work in the championship game against Duke, another team with mostly freshman, but Coach K is a better coach than Bo Ryan.

Men's college basketball is becoming tough to watch. It's a shit show of, look how high I can jump to dunk this ball, or look at how many threes I can shoot in 10 minutes, or look at the little amount of interest I show in playing defense. It's not very good. The talent is better, but the product has gotten worse. When Geno Auriemma, head coach of UConn's women's team, said that men's college basketball is unwatchable, I, at first, vehemently disagreed with him, but now, I'm coming over to his side. It's not that much fun to watch anymore.

With all this being said, I'm going to give a brief breakdown of the upcoming season and pick who I think, and it will be a flat out guess, is going to win the title. I'll also pick a player of the year as well. When researching, I stumbled upon a great article on cbssports.com, rating every team in division one basketball with a one or two sentence description of the team. I'm going to use this article, but only for the rankings.

They have UNC as their preseason number one. This team actually has one upperclassmen, Marcus Paige, on their roster. He's their point guard, and everything runs through him. If he plays well, UNC will be good, but the rest of his supporting cast are either freshman or sophomores and I know very little about them. Staying in the ACC, other good teams will be Duke, Virginia, Notre Dame and Miami. Duke lost three of their five best players to the draft, but they have a bunch of five stars coming in to take their place. They won't win the title again, but they'll be good, they always are. Virginia and Notre Dame are senior laden teams, but both lost their best players to the draft. They'll still make the tournament, but their runs won't be as deep. Miami should be better this year, they get better every year, and they should challenge UVA and Notre Dame for the third spot in the conference.

CBS's number two team is Kentucky. Yep, the same team that lost 7, I repeat 7, players to the NBA draft is preseason number two. They just did what Calipari does, and out recruited everyone and replace five five stars, with five more. Kentucky is the only SEC team that will do any sort of damage on a major scope this season. LSU does have the top incoming recruit, Ben Simmons, but he won't make them a contender in his one college season. And Vanderbilt may make some noise, but they are very, very far behind Kentucky.

Kansas was their number three team and they will be, once again, the class of the Big 12. They lost Cliff alexander and Kelly Oubre Jr to the pros, but they do get Perry Alexander back and they also have "star" freshman coming into Lawrence. The Jayhawks could, and will be challenged by Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma. Iowa State did lose their coach to the pros, but they have most of their starting five back, and that includes Georges Niang. He's one of the anomalies, and decided to stay in school to improve his game. Baylor is always lurking, and they have been for almost a decade now. It's time to take Baylor serious and stop calling them a surprise contender. And Oklahoma may have the best player in all of college basketball in Buddy Hield. He leads that team and he can do great things with the basketball.

The first Big 10 team to crack CBS's poll is Maryland, coming in at number four. Maryland surprised a lot of people last year by how well they played, and they may be the best team in all of college basketball. They did lose Dez Wells to graduation, but they have Jake Layman and Melo Trimble back. Trimble may be Hield's only competition for player of the year. The other Big 10 teams that will fight with Maryland are the usual suspects. Teams like Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan will all be tournament teams. Michigan State has a fine recruiting class coming in and Denzel Valentine is back. Indiana has one of the best offenses in the country and they have some serious recruits coming in. Ohio State will be down from where they have been, but they will still be decent. Purdue has a huge frontcourt, and they will be hard to score on in the post. And Michigan, if they can stay healthy, will be lethal from the outside.

The first Big East team to make their poll is Villanova. They're coming off a 30 plus win season and look to be in good shape once again. Georgetown and Providence will be fine, but the Big East is Villanova's to lose.

The Pac 12 should be competitive. Teams like Utah, Arizona, Oregon and California will be good. Utah did lose Delon Wright to the NBA, but Jakob Poeltl is back and he's a beast inside. Arizona replaces McDonalds All Americans with more McDonalds All Americans. Oregon is a fine team, but they're not really a threat nationally. And Cal. How in the hell is Cal in this discussion? I'll tell you how, they snagged three of the best recruits in the nation somehow, and they will be really competitive for one season. I'm sure an investigation will come out in a year or two involving Cal and recruiting violations, because they haven't been relevant since Jason Kidd played point guard for them in the 90's.

The AAC has three good teams in UConn, Cincinnati and SMU. SMU loses respect because of the sanctions just handed down, so they're not relevant. Cincinnati will win a lot of games they shouldn't, make the tournament with a decent seeding, then crap out in the first or second round. UConn is the class of the conference, and they will win it going away. They have a good recruiting class, and the best coach in their league.

Outside of the power conferences, there's only two teams that really warrant a mention. These teams are the afformentioned Wichita State and Gonzaga. Wichita State returns everybody from a team that should've made the Final Four last year, and the same goes for Gonzaga. If they're ever going to finally make the jump to elite status, this is Gonzaga's best, and probably last chance.

These are the teams I wanted to break down today. There's over 300 division one men's college basketball teams, but the ones I wrote about today, in my opinion, are the only real threats to do damage. Tell me why I'm wrong and who I left out in the comment section. For a more in depth look, if that's what you want, I suggest checking out the CBS website I mentioned earlier.

As far as predictions go, my Final Four teams, right now, are Maryland, Wichita State, Gonzaga and UNC. I think the title game will feature Gonzaga and Maryland, and I'm picking Maryland to win the whole thing. Melo Trimble will also take home player of the year. This will be a big, big season for Maryland basketball. I'll revisit this later in the season, but that's how I see things right at this very moment, 2:49pm central time on October 19th. Thanks and leave a comment telling me why I'm right or wrong.

College basketball and the NBA are almost here folks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His first big sports heartbreak happened after an ill fated time out call in the NCAA Men's Basketball championship game. I think UNC played in that game. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik 

Ty's College Football Season Preview

Official ball from the 1988 all backyard suburban league championship

Today is August 17th, which means it is only 17 more days until the 2015 college football season kicks off.

This is the biggest "holiday" in my life. I'm as giddy as a kid opening a present when college football season starts. College football is, by far, my favorite sport. It may not be the cleanest, most ethical sport (what NCAA sport is?) yet it's so entertaining. College football, and sports in general, are the only TV show or movie that there's any real drama involved. There's dramatic TV shows and movies, but the outcome, for the most part, is positive. Not the case in sports. Sports can make you extremely happy and can depress you for hours or days, depending on how your team plays that particular day. College football, in my opinion, holds the most drama of all sports. College football also has the best die hard fans. We aren't fans, we are fanatics.

Which brings me to my main reason for my blog today, it's my college football preview. I will make this a yearly thing, so this marks the first annual, "Ty's College Football Season Preview". I'm not going to pick a preseason top 25, because that's stupid and pointless. I'm going to pick my winners of the major conferences, I'll talk about teams that can surprise, I'll give you my favorites for the Heisman and who I think the four playoff teams will be, and who I think will win the whole thing. So let's get started.

First, the Pac 12. You have the usual suspects competing for the Pac 12 title this year in Oregon, USC and UCLA. Of those three teams, I would pick Oregon to, once again, be in contention and most likely win the Pac 12 again. The transfer quarterback from Eastern Washington, Vernon Adams, will somewhat ease the loss of last year's Heisman winner, Marcus Mariota. It's always hard to replace a player like Mariota, but I think that Adams will run this offense very well, and they won't miss Mariota as much as other people think they will. USC returns star quarterback, Cody Kessler, but I don't think that Steve Sarkisian is the answer at head coach. The last time USC had this kind of preseason buzz was the year they started out as preseason number one, lost badly at Arizona State on a late Saturday night game, fired Lane Kiffin when they returned home and finished the year 7-6. I personally don't trust USC. UCLA also has to replace an all Pac 12 QB in Brett Hundley, but they have Myles Jack coming back, and they have a decent defense. They're good for 8 to 10 wins. Teams like Arizona, Arizona State and Washington will be decent too. Arizona won't be as good as last season, they played completely out of their minds, but they have a good young core and are led by the best linebacker in the country in Scooby Wright. Arizona State will be good on offense and sub par on defense, and Washington's opener versus Boise State will tell you everything about their season. If they win or win big, they will be a really good team, and if they lose, it will be a long season for the Huskies. With all that being said, I see Oregon winning the conference again this season.

On to the "powerful" SEC. I'd like to start by saying, I think the SEC is very overrated and I wish companies like ESPN would stop with the constant coverage, it drives me nuts. Anyway, here's another conference with the usual suspects. Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia and Ole Miss are the class of the conference. Alabama is Alabama, they will be good for 10 wins at least, anything less is a failure. They will be good, probably great, all season. It's Alabama after all. Auburn and Ole Miss are very similar in my opinion. They both have decent offenses, Ole Miss is better with LaQuean Treadwell coming back after that horrific injury last season and they both have very good defenses. Auburn got a great hire in Will Muschamp as their new defensive coordinator. He was not a good head coach, but the guy is a defensive genius. They're also helped by the addition of graduate transfer, Blake Countess. That guy is a great cover corner. Ole Miss still has the Nkemdichi brothers, and Robert Nkemdichi is, by far, the best interior defensive lineman since Ndamonkong Suh. The guy is unblockable. Mississippi State has their QB, Dak Prescott, back and he runs Dan Mullen's read option to perfection. I don't think they'll be as good this season as they were last season, but they're still good for 8 or 9 wins. Georgia lost Todd Gurley, but replace him with Nick Chubb. They also have a decent defense. They should win at least 9 games. LSU and Arkansas are kind of a mystery to me. LSU has a lights out defense and probably the best running back in the nation in Leonard Fournette, but they have no QB capable of running an offense. Arkansas has a so so defense, but their running game is legit. Even with the injury to star running back, Jonathan Williams, they have a stable of guys willing to take his place. Missouri and Kentucky are probably your next level of teams. They'll compete, but if either of them wins more than 8 games, I'll be surprised. I'm going to have to go with Alabama to be the champ of the SEC again. Two conferences, two repeat champions.

Next, the Big 12. The Big 12 might be the most explosive offensive collection of teams in the country. First of all, there's Baylor and TCU. Baylor has to replace Bryce Petty, but it seems like anyone can come in there and throw for damn near 4,000 yards. That's how well their offense is coached and run by the players. On defense, they showed flashes, but disappeared late in games last season. Look at the Cotton Bowl loss to Michigan State last season for evidence. They do have a freakish athlete on that side of the ball. Go do a google image of Shawn Oakman and be aghast at how big and quick and nimble he is. The dude is a beast. TCU's offense is led by their explosive QB Trevoyne Boykin. He may be the best QB in the country and he runs their offense to a T. He's crazy accurate, can run if need be and makes the right decision 99% of the time. Their coach, Gary Patterson, is known for his defensive mind, but he will rely heavily on the offense this year. They shouldn't disappoint either. They should be one of the most explosive offenses in college football history. After these two teams, there's a pretty big dip. Oklahoma is Oklahoma. They should be decent, but they could also very well disappoint. That's the bummer of being an Oklahoma fan. They should compete every year, but they are on a down swing for them right now. Texas is still rebuilding, but you have to give them another two to four years before they are making any kind of noise in the national conversation. I do like their coach, Charlie Strong a lot. He doesn't take any crap from anybody. Oklahoma State has all these pending violations and recruiting problems that I think will affect their play on the field this season. Kansas State will be a 7 or 8 win team at best, and the same goes for West Virginia. I think that TCU basically runs away with the Big 12. Baylor will make it interesting, but TCU is going to be really special this season.

Next, the Big Ten. Full disclosure, I'm a die hard Michigan Wolverines fan, but that won't sway me from being biased. That being said, the story of this offseason is the hiring of Jim Harbaugh by Michigan. He's expected to return this team to glory, and with his track record, he should do that. In fairness, this season will be tough for him and my beloved Wolverines. I expect them to make a bowl game and I think they should have, at least, 7 wins, but their schedule is tough and we will see if the running game can finally live up to the hype and see if the defense can be as good, if not better than last season. Okay, I talked about Michigan. The Big Ten will be about two teams this season, Ohio State and Michigan State (ed note: That was the hardest sentence Ty has ever written). Ohio State is the defending national champions. They have three great QB's and one of them is now playing receiver(Braxton Miller). They have one of the best running backs in the country in Ezekial Elliot. But, I don't see many explosive receivers on this team and I think teams will stack the box on them. That doesn't mean they'll stop them, but they will be predictable on offense. I also think that both JT Barrett and Cardale Jones will take a step back. Cardale Jones made a mistake in not turning pro, because his stock will never be as high as it was at the end of last season. Ohio State has a great defense. Nothing more needs to be said. There defense will be hard to get points on. Michigan State has Connor Cook back and a highly aggressive, hard hitting defense. Cook is one of the top QB's in the country. A lot of his top receivers have graduated or are in the NFL, so he will have to find new guys, but he will, he's good. Their running game will be by committee, but that's what works for them. While having a great defense, they play undisciplined and get penalized a ton. They are one of the dirtiest teams I've ever watched, but that gets in other teams heads and takes them off their game. You do what works for you. I feel like this is Michigan State's last, best shot at doing something special. They better take advantage. After that we have, the aforementioned Michigan Wolverines, Penn State, Iowa and Minnesota. Penn State should be good, but they haven't really lived up to any expectations lately and their offensive line has got to play better for them to win. Iowa will be good on the ground, but the QB situation is clearer, with Jake Rudock transferring to Michigan, but we will see how CJ Beathard does as a full time starter. Their defense is in a down swing right now too. Minnesota is a good team. They're predictable, but they have an awesome offensive line and a bunch of good running backs. Mitch Leidner does exactly what the coaching staff asks him to do too. They are not great on defense and that will hold them back. Rutgers, Maryland and Northwestern are teams, like Missouri and Kentucky in the SEC, that will compete, but anything more than 7 wins will shock me. It boils my blood, but I think Ohio State will win the Big 10 once again (ed note: Sorry Ty).

Lots of the same conference champs for me. I'm going to bundle the ACC and the AAC, because these are both jokes of conferences. The ACC has only three teams that are legit. There's Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson. Georgia Tech will run the triple option really well and confuse a lot of opponents, but they will take a step back from last season. Florida State is replacing Jameis Winston with Everett Golson, so they will not miss a beat, They'll be good, but blow some games late, like they always do. Clemson should be really good this year and they may make the ACC look like a halfway decent conference. Duke will be decent again, but not as good as last season. I'm going to pick Clemson to win the ACC. I don't watch the AAC at all, but I know that Cincinnati is in the conference. The only other teams I know are UCF, SMU and maybe Temple. I know UCF was good a few years ago with Blake Bortles at QB, but this conference is such a joke, I guess I'll pick SMU to win it this year. That's just a blind guess on my part and for all my AAC fans out there, sorry but your conference stinks.

As far as independent and teams from other conferences go, I'd like to talk about Notre Dame, BYU, Boise State and Marshall. Notre Dame is kind of an enigma to me. At the start of last season they looked like world beaters to me, then they fell on their faces when they played Arizona State, but closed out the season with a bowl win over LSU. They will either be a 10 win team or a 6 win team to me. It all depends on how well new starter Malik Zaire plays. If he plays like he did against LSU, they'll be good, but if he regresses or gets found out, they will be lucky to win 6 games. He has good offensive players around him, but it's always on the QB. BYU gets QB Taysom Hill back, and he's almost unstoppable running the read option. The problem lies with him though, when he got hurt, they were terrible. I believe they lost 4 or 5 straight after he got hurt. That team is completely reliant on the health of their QB and that's a double edged sword. Boise State had a down year for them and they still won 9 games and played Ole Miss tough in the opener. The same goes for them as goes for Washington. It all depends on who wins that game to see who will have the better season. I think Boise State will be good this year. Marshall almost went undefeated last season. They were led by their all world QB, Rakeem Cato, but he's graduated, and I think this marks the end of Marshall winning double digit games. It's not happening.

As far as the Heisman Trophy goes this season, I see it coming down to a lot of running backs and one QB. I think we'll see Ohio State's Ezekial Elliot, Georgia's Nick Chubb, LSU's Leonard Fournette and TCU's QB Trevoyne Boykin get invited to New York. I see Boykin winning the Heisman in an almost landslide vote. He's going to have a special season if he stays healthy.

Now the playoff.  I see the Big 12 being represented by TCU, the SEC sending Alabama and the shocker being the Big 10 getting two teams in, in Ohio State and Michigan State. I think in order of ranking the final four teams, it will be Ohio State 1, Alabama 2, TCU 3 and Michigan State 4. So, we'll get an Ohio State-Michigan State game for the third time this season and I see Ohio State winning this time and we will get Alabama-TCU in the other playoff game and I see TCU pulling away late in that game to advance to the title game. So that leaves us with Ohio State and TCU playing for the championship. I see this game being close for about 2 and a half quarters and then TCU puling away and winning by at least 17 points. So, TCU will be your 2016 NCAA Football National Champions.

Tell me why I'm right or wrong in the comment section and sit back and enjoy watching football. It will be here before we know it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The editor is eagerly awaiting his NCAA Division 3 football preview. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik